Aye aye - harbinger of death

aye ayeThe Aye aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is the world's largest nocturnal primate. It lives in the east coast forests of Madagascar, tapping the trees for grubs (beetle larvae), then gnawling a hole to stick its elongated (sometimes three times longer than the other fingers) middle finger in it to catch the grub. They grow up to 37 cms long, with a tail of 53 cms and can weigh about 2,5 kilograms. Not only is the Aye aye threatened by habitat destruction, it also is very much threatened by superstition of the local villagers. Native people believe it is a harbinger of death, and when it points its middle finger at you, you are doomed. Therefore it is killed on sight.

photo taken by Ancheta Wis, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Keywords: nocturnal

The Aye-aye is listed as Endangered (EN), considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Countries
Madagascar
Some facts about the
Aye-aye

Adult weight : 2.278 kg (5.0116 lbs)

Maximum longevity : 23 years

Female maturity :882 days

Gestation : 167 days

Weaning : 197 days

Litter size : 1

Litters per year : 1

Interval between litters : 912 days

Weight at birth : 0.109 kg (0.2398 lbs)

Weight at weaning : 1.535 kg (3.377 lbs)

Source: AnAge, licensed under CC

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