Suborder: Prosimii | Infraorder: Lemuriformes | Superfamily: Lemuroidea | Family: Daubentoniidae

One of the stranger looking primates, from a human perspective, is the aye-aye. The species is so unique that it was designated as a seperate family in the Lemuroidea superfamily. Because of their shy nature, nocturnal lifestyle?, and disappearance due to destruction of their habitat, aye-ayes are rarely seen.

The aye-ayes diet consists of seeds, fruit, plant matter and insect larvae. The middle finger of the aye-aye is elongated and they use this finger to tap on wood and listen for hollow cavities. Upon finding a cavity, the aye-aye chews into the wood and extracts insect larvae with the claw of the middle finger. Aye-ayes have dark, course hair on their bodies, and beige hair on their face with black eye rings and a pink nose. Their tails are long and bushy.

 Return to the ChimpanZoo Index