FaunaHub
ENEndangeredPartial review

Aye-aye

Daubentonia madagascariensis

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a dark lemur with large eyes, big ears, and a thin middle finger.

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis); this individual is at a zoo in Madagascar.

Image: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category
EN · Endangered
Animal group
Mammals
Population trend
Decreasing
Last verified

Conservation overview

The aye-aye is a bizarre nocturnal lemur with rodent-like teeth and a long, thin middle finger for extracting grubs from wood. It is assessed as Endangered.

It taps on branches to find hollow tunnels left by insect larvae, then gnaws in and hooks them out.

Range & habitat

Forests across Madagascar.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

  • Habitat loss
  • Killing due to local superstition
  • Fragmentation

Why it matters

A one-of-a-kind primate that fills the ecological role of a woodpecker, the aye-aye is an irreplaceable branch of Madagascar's unique fauna.

Gallery

An aye-aye showing its rodent-like teeth and bushy tail.

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis).

Image: Tom Junek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Aye-aye

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the aye-aye's strange finger for?
Its elongated, thin middle finger is used for 'percussive foraging': it taps wood to locate grubs in hollow tunnels, gnaws an opening, then hooks the larvae out — a niche elsewhere filled by woodpeckers.
Why is the aye-aye Endangered?
Published assessments cite habitat loss and fragmentation, plus killing driven by local superstition that treats the animal as an ill omen. See the IUCN Red List.

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