Scary appearance with long fingers, bushy tail, big ears, wide eyes and only appear at night makes this animal named Aye – aye seen by locals as the embodiment of the devil. However, to the scientific community, they are still considered cute animals and need to be protected from extinction.

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Here are a few interesting facts about this lemur from Madagascar:

1, Is the largest nocturnal primate in the world  

An adult Aye-aye is only about 1m long and weighs 2-3kg, but it is the largest body size among nocturnal primates such as rabbits, coolies or glasses. They also have a bushy, long tail that is even longer than their body length.

2, Are related to humans

Despite being far from human in appearance, like many other hominid primates such as orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, Aye-Aye’s DNA is 93% similar to humans. Scientists think that because of their living habits and habitat, they have gradually evolved to become more like squirrels.

3, Is the only primate capable of echolocation.

Echolocation is the ability to “see” things with its reverberating sound, commonly found in bats, dolphins or whales. Aye-Aye uses their ability to forage. They first tap the tree trunks with their fingers to check the larva’s position, then it will tear the bark, using its small and long middle finger to get food. They are also the only primates with this ability.

4, Aye-Aye is a solitary creature

Nocturnal animals often live alone, Aye-Aye is no exception. They usually spend the day sleeping and feeding at night, so they rarely come into contact with other creatures. Although they also often feed in pairs, they do not engage in the mutual grooming or caring actions commonly seen in primates.

5, Scientists used to think Aye-Aye was a rodent

It took a long time for Aye-Aye to be classified as Primate. Before, because the row of teeth was continuously growing, they were considered to be in the order of Rodents like squirrels, chipmunks, beavers, porcupines, etc. Later, because many characteristics were found very different from rodents. and lemurs, they have been classified into a separate family and genus in the order Primates.

6, They have “false thumbs”

Aye-Aye has a very small sixth finger located near the thumb. This finger is full of bones, cartilage, tendons, 3 muscle groups and fingerprints, helping them to grip more firmly on branches and trunks. Because when moving their small, long, hairy six-fingered hands spread out like spider legs, scientists have called them “the craziest hand of all primates”.

7, Locals consider it the embodiment of evil

Although favored by researchers and considered a lovely animal, to the people of Madagascar, the ugly animal with long, bony fingers, specialized in sitting on the tops of trees at night is present. Devil’s body brings bad luck. So they are often killed innocently.

8, Is an endangered animal species in danger of extinction

In fact, this strange animal was once thought to have gone extinct about 100 years ago, but then they began to reappear in the 1950s. However, due to being hunted and killed for “spiritual animals” evil spirits”, in 2014 they were once again listed as endangered animals.