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. The Aye Aye is a nocturnal and arboreal animal meaning that it spends most of its life
high in the trees. Although they are known to come down to the ground on occasion,
Aye Ayes sleep, eat, travel and mate in the trees and are most commonly found close to
the canopy where there is plenty of cover from the dense foliage. During the day Aye
Ayes sleep in spherical nests in the forks of tree branches that are constructed out of
leaves, branches and vines before emerging after dark to begin their hunt for food. The
Aye Aye is a solitary animal that marks it's large home range with scent with the smaller
territory of a female often overlapping those of at least a couple of males. Male Aye
Ayes tend to share their territories with other males and are even known to share the
same nests (although not at the same time), and can seemingly tolerate each other until
they hear the call of a female that is looking for a mate.
Gnawed limb