Wildlife
Aye-ayes are the largest nocturnal primate in the world. They are also the only primate thought to use echolocation, which they use to find insect grubs hidden 2cm deep inside a tree. During mating, aye-ayes hang upside-down on a branch, and the procedure lasts for about an hour.
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Aye-aye of the beholder
She's no beauty but this aye-aye is well on the road to recovery.
She's no beauty but this aye-aye is well on the road to recovery.
Creatures of the night
A tiny mouse lemur and rare aye aye stalk the forests at night.
A tiny mouse lemur and rare aye aye stalk the forests at night.
Digital data
A long, tapping finger helps the aye-aye locate buried treasure.
A long, tapping finger helps the aye-aye locate buried treasure.
Crazy goblin
The aye-aye is a weird and very specialised predator.
The aye-aye is a weird and very specialised predator.
Inquisitive aye aye
A close encounter with the primate that thinks it's a woodpecker.
A close encounter with the primate that thinks it's a woodpecker.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Aye-aye can be found in a number of locations including: Madagascar. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Aye-aye distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Near Threatened
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker.
It is the world's largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unusual method of finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood using its forward slanting incisors to create a small hole in which it inserts its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out. This foraging method is called percussive foraging. The only other animal species known to find food in this way is the striped possum. From an ecological point of view the aye-aye fills the niche of a woodpecker, as it is capable of penetrating wood to extract the invertebrates within.
The aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus Daubentonia and family Daubentoniidae (although it is currently classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN); a second species, Daubentonia robusta, appears to have become extinct at some point within the last 1000 years.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
The wildlife of Life
In autumn 2009, a major new series brought us life as we've never seen it before.
David Attenborough's Madagascar
Like nowhere else on Earth, the mystery and magic of Madagascar leaves a vivid impression on all those who visit, and none more so than David Attenborough.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Helpless young
Tree dweller
Adapted to climbing
Hierarchical
Nocturnal
Chemical communication
Viviparous