The Aye-Aye

The aye-aye is a small member of the lemur family known for its super long middle fingers. It is cute, but its long fingers and big eyes are also a little bit creepy (like the picture shows)! Its long middle fingers have hooked nails and help the aye-aye catch its favorite food - beetle larvae, or grubs. The aye-aye taps on trees and then uses its big ears to listen for grubs hiding under the tree bark. It uses its sharp teeth to chew through the wood and then puts its long middle finger inside the hole to grab the grub. This type of hunting is known as percussive foraging. The only other animal known to find food in this way is the striped possum.

The aye-aye lives in nests it builds in the trees of Madagascar. Aye-aye's grow to be about three feet long and weigh around four pounds. Young aye-ayes typically have silver fur. Adults grow to have white-tipped fur on their heads and backs and the rest of their bodies are yellow/brown in color. Like a rodent, the aye-aye's teeth never stop growing and are kept short by chewing holes in trees.  

The aye-aye is an omnivore. In addition to grubs, it also eats fruit, eggs, insects, fungi and nectar. The aye-aye is the world's largest nocturnal primate. They are mainly solitary animals. One of the aye-aye's closest relatives is the slow loris from Asia. (Stay tuned for a post about this animal!)

Legend has it that the aye-aye was considered bad luck or evil. Some people even thought that if an aye-aye pointed its middle finger at someone that person would be dead in a jiffy! 

Cool Fact: The aye-aye was thought to be extinct in 1933, but was rediscovered in 1957.