The aye-aye is one of the most amazing primates on the planet. It looks like a cross between a squirrel, a bat, and a monkey. This nocturnal inhabitant of Madagascar has become a legend thanks to its long, bony middle finger, which it uses to "knock" on wood in search of larvae.
Classification
• Kingdom: Animals (Animalia)
- Type: Chordate
- Class: Mammalia
- Classification: Primates
- Family: Daubentoniidae
- Genus: Daubentonia
• View: Daubentonia madagascariensis
Appearance
📏 Sizes:
- Body length: 30-40 cm
- Tail: up to 60 cm
- Weight: 2-2.7 kg
🎨 Color scheme:
- The coat is dark brown or black, long and sparse
- Large bright eyes
- Large, bat-shaped ears
☝️ Features:
- Long middle toe on the front paws - thin, skeleton-like
- Large, constantly growing incisors (like rodents)
- Movable neck that allows for almost 180° head rotation
Range and habitat
🌍 Where he lives:
- Endemic to Madagascar
- Mostly northeast of the island
🌳 Wednesday:
- Tropical rain forests
- Sometimes secondary forests and plantations
Lifestyle and behavior
🌙 Nighttime activity:
- Ai is active only at night
- During the day it sleeps in a spherical nest made of branches and leaves
🦉 A lonely lifestyle:
- Lives alone except during the breeding season
- Territorial - marks the boundaries with urine and scent glands
🧠 Intelligence:
- Has a good memory and challenging behavior
- Able to use tools in captivity
Food
🍴 Diet:
- Insect larvae (favorite food)
- Fruits, nectar, mushrooms, coconuts
- Sometimes bird eggs
🎯 Hunting for larvae:
- Uses the technique of "percussive echolocation" - knocks on the wood with his finger
- Listens for echoes, detects cavities
- Chews through the hole with its teeth and puts its long finger in to pull out the larva
Reproduction
🍼 Mating:
- Does not have a clearly defined season
- Females signal readiness with smell and sound
👶 Offspring:
- Pregnancy lasts about 170 days
- One cub is born
- The child stays with the mother until the age of 2
Environmental protection status
📉 Status:
- Endangered species
- Listed in the IUCN Red List as Endangered
🚫 Threats:
* Deforestation
- Persecution by the local population (considered a "demon" or a symbol of death)
- Low reproductive capacity
🌱 Security:
- Protected by the national parks of Madagascar
- It is kept in zoos to preserve the species
Interesting facts
✔️ Ai-ai is the only modern representative of its family - Daubentoniidae
✔️ Local legends believe that the appearance of an aye-aye is a sign of death, so it is often killed
✔️ His teeth grow all his life, like those of a rodent
✔️ The long finger has its own tendon and can bend independently of the rest of the fingers
✔️ At night, it makes special sounds similar to "chirping"
Conclusion
Aye-aye is an example of a unique way of primate evolution on an isolated island. Despite its creepy appearance, it is of great scientific value and needs to be protected. Aye-aye is not a demon, but a true masterpiece of nature.
