Aye-aye: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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The '''aye-aye''' ('''''Daubentonia madagascariensishi''''') is a long-fingered [[lemur]], a [[Strepsirrhini|strepsirrhine]] [[primate]] native to [[Madagascar]] with [[rodent]]-like teeth that perpetually grow<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Primates Prosimiens|last1 = Petter|first1 =J. |date = 1977|journal = ORSTOM|last2 = Albignac|first2 =R. |last3 = Rumpler|first3 =Y.}}</ref> and a special thin middle finger that they can use to catch grubs and larvae out of tree trunks.

It is the world's largest [[Nocturnality|nocturnal]] primate.<ref name="nationalgeographic" /> It is characterized by its unusual method of finding food: it taps on trees to find [[Larva|grubs]], then gnaws holes in the wood using its forward-slanting incisors to create a small hole into which it inserts its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out. This foraging method is called ''percussive foraging'', and takes up 5–41% of foraging time.<ref name="Erickson1998">{{cite journal|last1= Erickson|first1=C.J. |last2= Nowicki |first2=S. |last3= Dollar|first3=L. |last4= Goehring|first4=N. |s2cid= 27737088|title= Percussive Foraging: Stimuli for Prey Location by Aye-Ayes (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'')|journal= International Journal of Primatology|year= 1998|volume= 19|issue= 1|page= 111|doi= 10.1023/A:1020363128240}}<!--|access-date=6 May 2013--></ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title = Adaptations in the ayeaye: A review|last1 = Sterling|first1 =E.J. |date = 2006|journal = Lemurs: Ecology and Adaptations|last2 = McCreless|first2 =E.E. |publisher = Gould L, Sauther ML|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226739621}}</ref> The only other living mammal species known to find food in this way are the [[striped possum]] and trioks (genus ''[[Dactylopsila]]'') of northern Australia and New Guinea, which are marsupials.{{Sfn|Sterling|2003|p=1348}} 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.{{Sfn|Piper|2007|p={{page needed|date=December 2020}}}}{{Sfn|Beck|2009}}