The Aye-Aye: Adorably Terrifying

Many animals are cute. Many animals are quite frightening. It's only once in a great while that you encounter an animal that manages to tow the line between the two. Enter the Aye-aye (pronounced "I-I").

Image from: factzoo.com

I was introduced to the Aye-aye during a round of youtubing with the GGRO interns last year. More recently, I was reminded of the Aye-aye by Dr. Patricia Wright, winner of the Indianapolis Prize (a super prestigious conservation award) during a talk she gave at Ball State earlier this month. Dr. Wright won the prize for her work with lemurs, many of which are endangered on the island nation of Madagascar. One of those lemur species is the Aye-aye.

When most people think of lemurs, there is probably a distinct image that comes to mind - something like this:

Ring-tailed Lemurs are adorable and not at all creepy (Cincinnati Zoo, Oct. 2014)

The Aye-aye has a slightly more striking appearance:

Photo from WikiMedia Commons.

Is it adorable? Is it terrifying? The jury is still out.

Native to Madagascar, the Aye-aye possesses a host of unique traits that make it stand out from its other lemur brethren. When first discovered, the Aye-aye was thought to be a rodent because it looks so distinct from other primates. In fact, it does share one trait with rodents: its teeth, specifically its incisors, which grow continually throughout the lifespan and have to be maintained regularly.

Check out those teeth! (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Most notably, the Aye-aye has an extra-long middle finger. Unlike the rest of its fingers (and most mammal fingers for that matter), the middle finger is composed of a ball-and-socket joint, giving it the ability to swivel around in all directions. The Aye-aye uses this finger to tap on the bark of trees, (much like woodpeckers) sometimes up to 8 taps per second. By tapping, the Aye-aye is able to identify hollow parts of the trees. Once identified, the Aye-aye then uses its rodent-like teeth to break open the bark. Lastly, it uses it's narrow finger to dig into the tree and pull out bugs and grubs hidden within. Yum.

Multi-purpose finger (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Aye-ayes are nocturnal, the largest nocturnal primates on the planet. They are also solitary; occasionally territories will overlap, but for the most part they keep to themselves (okay, there might be some recent research to dispute this long-believed fact). Often, many females will live in a single male's territory and there is no regular mating cycle. The female pretty much just lets the male know when she's ready.

Like many lemurs in Madagascar, the Aye-aye is classified as endangered (as of this year). This is partly due to a superstition amongst the native Malagasy people that the creature is an embodiment of evil and must be killed whenever spotted. Many Aye-ayes are killed without second thought because of this legend. In addition to this superstition, Aye-ayes are viewed as pests by local villagers and farmers, which puts another target on their backs.

Luckily, people like Dr. Wright and her research team are working hard to ensure a future for Aye-ayes and the other lemurs of Madagascar. She was instrumental in the implementation of Ranomafana National Park, which protects vital habitat for many of these lemur species.

Whether creepy or cute, the Aye-aye is an important species in its own right and worthy our protection and attention.

A great creature to pay attention to this month - Happy Halloween!