Aye - ayes ( Daubentonia madagascariensis ) are the largest nocturnal high priest in the world and almost undoubtedly the most distinct of all lemurs . Feared and revered in equal parts , this hob - same indigen of Madagascar is a beautiful example of how evolution can drive the macrocosm of some superbly weird creatures .
With straggly hair and beaming eye , photographs of aye - ayes can often make them look like a wired celebrity who ’s just been snapped by the paparazzi while entrust a nightclub at 4 am . That ’s because they are only spotted at Nox , and any picture of them in the natural state amid the dense timberland requires a powerful trice .
That suppose , it ’s fair to say they are very unusual - take care creatures at the beneficial of times . They ’re typically just 60 centimeters ( 2 understructure ) long , not include their tail , and are cover in a bush of saturnine hair that becomes tipped with white on their headway and back .
A 16-day-old baby aye-aye.Image credit: Animal Search/Shutterstock.com
Their comparatively naked human face looks more like a rodent or an phalanger than a primate . They also feature heavy and bulge eyes , especially adapted for night vision , as well as bat - like ear that lend to their sharp sense of audition .
Their lank finger are in particular unequalled . Their middle fingerbreadth is exceptionally long and thin , which allows the archpriest to “ fish out ” grub and insects from trees . They are have it away to utilize their capriciously tenacious fingersto clean their nose , although no one is certain why they do this ( the same can be said for humanity and many other primates too ) . Stranger still , researchers recently discovered that the aye - aye hasevolved a 6th digitto aid in gripping and climbing Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
The coinage is find only on the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa . The island split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago , allowing aboriginal plants and fauna to germinate in relative isolation , much like the position in Australasia andits peculiar animals .
Since there are no woodpeckers on the island , aye - ayes fill their ecological niche of poking around tree diagram trunks to forage for bugs . chimp exhibita similar behaviorwhere they use twigs to poke around mounds to trip up termites , but the aye - aye evolved its marijuana cigarette - like fingers purely for this purpose ( and , obviously , nozzle - picking ) .
Aye - ayes are the only fellow member of the genusDaubentoniaalive on Earth today , although there was once a 2nd fellow member known as thegiant aye - aye(Daubentonia robusta ) that was around 2.5 to 5 times large . It ’s simulate this species fall into quenching around 1,000 years ago .
woefully , the living aye - aye species is n’t in great shape either . The specie is so rarified that people assumed they had fallen into extinction in the early 20th century , but decennium afterward it was incur there was still a viable universe . That ’s perhaps not too surprising , since they are nocturnal and very shy around humans .
While their population numbers may still be higher than currently appreciated , theIUCN Red Listclassifies them as an imperil specie facing an incertain future due to rearing habitat devastation in their native fatherland .
They also fall victim to more direct threats from humans . Regional folklore in Madagascarassociates the animal with misfortune and evil . If an aye - aye is descry in the dead of night , it ’s said to be a mansion that something wickedness is brewing . bad still , if an aye - aye period at you with your mediate finger’s breadth , some believe you are marked for death . This negative image means that aye - aye is often actively hunted down . Who can blame them for being a little bashful ?
