With fur looking as if it had just escaped an electric storm, oversized ears, beady eyes, and long, bony fingers, Daubentonia madagascariensis, or the Aye-aye’s, strange appearance led many people to believe it was an alien.  Despite its alien appearance and behavior, the Aye-aye is a rodent and member of the lemur family.  Madagascar is home to many different species of lemur. 

The Aye-aye is nocturnal and inhabits the canopy level of the jungles and rain forests, mainly on the eastern side of Madagascar.  Although it can look quite ferocious, the Aye-aye’s diet consists of insects and fruits.  The long third fingers of each hand are the Aye-aye’s food-hunting tool.  The Aye-aye uses this finger to tap along trees and logs, listening for hollow areas.  These hollowed spaces indicate an insect has burrowed into the wood.  Once the Aye-aye has found a hollowed space, it listens for the movement of insect larvae.  The Aye-aye’s hearing is amazingly refined, and it can hear even the tiniest movement of larvae beneath the wood, up to twelve feet deep!  This is where that long third finger comes in handy.  When the Aye-aye detects movements, it chews a hole in the wood and uses its finger as a hook to reach in and extract the tasty morsel within.

Aye-aye eating sap from a banana flower

Although not the most social of animals, Aye-aye are not completely solitary.  Male Aye-aye territory covers more than a female’s, and generally overlaps with female territory and even other males.  Aye-ayes reside in nests built in the forks of trees, similar to a squirrel’s drey (although larger).   

There is no particular time of year Aye-ayes mate and give birth.  Baby Aye-ayes gestate for approximately 5 months before being born live.  Baby Aye-aye are born hairless, and their large ears and skeleton-like hands give them more of a nightmare appearance than the cute, fuzzy baby many mammals produce.  Weaned before a year, young Aye-aye still stick close to their mother until they are around two years old.  Although not monogamous by any means, the father does stay relatively close to his mate and children for a short period of time, sometimes sharing food with the young.       

 A young Aye-aye

The people of Madagascar are not fans of the Aye -aye.  They consider the little rodent to be a bad omen and a symbol of death, and kill any they find.  This is unfortunate for two reasons.  One, the Aye-aye is in danger of becoming extinct as its jungle habit is rapidly being destroyed by humans.  Two, this affects the jungle of Madagascar itself because the Aye-ayes, along with the rest of the lemur family, are heavily responsible for the seed dispersal that renews and redistributes jungle flora.  The birds one would expect to contribute to seed dispersal are mainly insect eaters, so it’s up to the lemur family to keep plant life alive and well.

Although they might not be as cute as their fellow mammals, the Aye-aye still play an important role in Madagascar’s circle of life.  Without them, Madagascar would be a much less inviting island to visit and admire.  To read about Madagascar’s Comet Moth, go here.