This post is dedicated
to Forest Schafer since it covers his favorite animal, the Aye-Aye.
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| Figure 1: The Aye-Aye |
Ever feel like you did not belong? Did you ever feel like an ugly duckling? The primate to be discussed in today’s blog
post, the Aye-Aye (Figure 1), is identified as both an outlier within the
primate order as well as extremely bizarre.
This blog post will describe the Aye-Aye as well as discuss factors that
continue to lead to its endangered status.
The Aye-Aye is a rather unique primate. Its physical appearance has been described as
rodent or bat like, although I like to consider it the inspiration for the
Harry Potter character Dobby (note, I do not know if that is the case, but it
is what I like to think). The Aye-Aye is
the largest nocturnal primate in the world, ranging from 14-17 inches and
weighing in at four to six pounds. It
has thick, course brown, black, and white hair; bat like ears; continually growing
incisors; and an elongated middle finger.
It was a combination of its physical features and odd incisor growth
that led scholars to originally believe it was a rodent, not a primate, but
further analysis did lead to the true classification as a prosimian, a type of
primitive looking primate.
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| Figure 2: Distribution of Aye-Aye on the island of Madagascar |
The Aye-Aye resides exclusively on the island of Madagascar
(Figure 2), existing in both dry deciduous and rain forests. The Aye-Aye’s unique form makes it adapted to
a specialized diet that consists of nuts, palm tree nectar, fungi, and insect
grubs, the latter of which they seek out by tapping their elongated middle
finger along dead tree branches. The
sounds and echoes of the tapping on the wood is picked up by its large ears and
enables the Aye-Aye to accurately determine where the grubs are, which are
scooped out with the elongated finger. Due
to changing economic practices (due to globalization and agricultural
development) Aye-Ayes have recently taken to eating a variety of cultivated
fruits.
The Aye-Aye has additional unique features, specifically
related to its social behavior. The Aye-Aye
is a solitary creature, which is rare among primates (as they are generally
social). Males and females are
reproductively active throughout the year, and when they do come together to
breed it is the female that dominates over the male. This typically occurs every three years,
though.
The Aye-Aye is currently threatened with no more than 1000
living in the wild (and about a hundred in captivity). The primary threat against the Aye-Aye is
humans who hunt the Aye-Aye to keep them out of orchards and farms, but this is
actually not the leading cause of death among these creatures. The Malagasi believe that they will be cursed
if the Aye-Aye points it middle finger at them, so whenever they encounter one
it is quickly disposed of to avoid any misfortune. This may also be one of the reasons why the
Aye-Aye may use its middle finger to point at a human, as an insulting gesture
for unnecessarily killing them. The Malagasy government and various conservation organizations are working toward saving the Aye-Aye, but there are difficulties in determining how these efforts are working out since the creature is rather elusive and exact counts of wild populations are incomplete and inaccurate.
In conclusion, the Aye-Aye is a very unique primate in
several ways. Its form, behavior, and
stigma all contribute to its exceptional status. While many people may look at it and think it
is ugly the Aye-Aye is actually a very beautiful creature because it is so different.
References
Gron, K. 2007. “Aye-Aye: Daubentonia madagascariensis.” Primate Info Net. National Primate Research Center, University
of Wisconsin-Madison.
No Author. No
Date. “Daubentonia madagascariensis.” IUNC Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources Website.
No Author. No
Date. “335. Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis).” EDGE: Evolutionarily Distinct & Globally
Endangered. The Zooarchaeological
Society of London website.
No Author. No
Date. “Aye-Aye (Daubentonia
madagascariensis).” Arkive.org
No Author. No
Date. “Aye-Aye: Daubentonia
madagascariensis.” Duke Lemur
Center. Duke University website.
