Posted on 12/07/2018 3:00:53 PM PST by ETL
Tonks, the aye-aye, was recently born at the Denver Zoo, the Denver Post is reporting, and while her appearance may be ghastly, it's a win for biologists trying to save the species.
Only 24 of these types of lemurs live in zoos in the U.S., the Denver Zoo noted. It is not known how many of them are in the wild, due to the nocturnal nature of the species and the fact they spend almost all of their time in trees, but they are considered endangered.
Symbolic with death and even considered an omen of evil in its native Madagascar, the aye-aye was thought to be extinct but was rediscovered in 1961, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
"The aye-aye remains an endangered species not only because its habitat is being destroyed, but also due to native superstition," the organization wrote on its website. "Ancient Malagasy legend said that the Aye-aye was a symbol of death, with some believing its mere appearance predicts the death of a villager."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
[Pirate voice) Aye! What a handsome babe is he!
Kinda cute, in a “possum meets Cthulhu” sort of way. Dig that wild finger!
More cute than anything
It is the world’s largest nocturnal[5] 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, and takes up 5–41% of foraging time.[6][7] The only other animal species known to find food in this way is the striped possum.[8] 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.[9][10]
The aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus Daubentonia and family Daubentoniidae. It is currently classified as Endangered by the IUCN; and a second species, Daubentonia robusta, appears to have become extinct at some point within the last 1000 years.[11]
Evolutionary history and taxonomy
Due to its derived morphological features, the classification of the aye-aye has been debated since its discovery. The possession of continually growing incisors (front teeth) parallels those of rodents, leading early naturalists to mistakenly classify the aye-aye within the mammalian order Rodentia[14] and as a squirrel, due to its toes, hair coloring, and tail. However, the aye-aye is also similar to felines in its head shape, eyes, ears and nostrils.[15]
The aye-aye’s classification with the order Primates has been just as uncertain. It has been considered a highly derived member of the family Indridae, a basal branch of the strepsirrhine suborder, and of indeterminate relation to all living primates.[16]
In 1931, Anthony and Coupin classified the aye-aye under infraorder Chiromyiformes, a sister group to the other strepsirrhines. Colin Groves upheld this classification in 2005 because he was not entirely convinced the aye-aye formed a clade with the rest of the Malagasy lemurs,[17] despite molecular tests that had shown Daubentoniidae was basal to all Lemuriformes,[16] deriving from the same lemur ancestor that rafted to Madagascar during the Paleocene or Eocene.
In 2008, Russell Mittermeier, Colin Groves, and others ignored addressing higher-level taxonomy by defining lemurs as monophyletic and containing five living families, including Daubentoniidae. [18]
Further evidence indicating that the aye-aye belongs in the superfamily Lemuroidea can be inferred from the presence of petrosal bullae encasing the ossicles of the ear. However, the bones may also have some resemblance to those of rodents.[14] The aye-ayes are also similar to lemurs in their shorter back legs.[15]
Anatomy and morphology
Young aye-ayes typically are silver colored on their front and have a stripe down their back. However, as the aye-ayes begin to reach maturity, their bodies will be completely covered in thick fur and are typically not one solid color. On the head and back, the ends of the hair are typically tipped with white while the rest of the body will ordinarily be a yellow and/or brown color.
In length, a full-grown aye-aye is typically about three feet long with a tail as long as its body. Among the aye-aye’s signature traits are its fingers.[19] The third finger, which is thinner than the others, is used for tapping, while the fourth finger, the longest, is used for pulling bugs out of trees.[15] The middle finger is unique in that it possesses a ball-and-socket metacarpophalangeal joint.[20]
The complex geometry of ridges on the inner surface of aye-aye ears helps to sharply focus not only echolocation signals from the tapping of its finger, but also to passively listen for any other sound produced by the prey. These ridges can be regarded as the acoustic equivalent of a Fresnel lens, and may be seen in a large variety of unrelated animals, such as lesser galago, bat-eared fox, mouse lemur, and others.
Females have two nipples located in the region of the groin.
Behaviour and lifestyle
An aye-aye foraging, c.1863, Joseph Wolf
Closeup of the hand showing the elongated digits and the thinner third digit
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. Aye-aye are solitary animals that mark their large home range with scent. The smaller territories of females often overlap 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.
Looks like a chihuahua mated with a wookie.
This is on FreeRepublic why?
John McCain reincarnated....definitely omen of evil
we all need a break from the “i hate liberals” vibe. Go post a picture of a hot babe and you’ll get 50 minimum replies...
Re #9:
Because not everything on FR has to deal with politics. It never has.
I’d rather see this than another clot of lying fakenews from CNN or the Washington Compost.
Some people in my area own a similar animal as a pet.
They are called Sugar Gliders.
They’re small possum like critters. Nocturnal.
Sugar Gliders like sugary foods like tree sap or nectar, and can glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel.
These, unlike the Aye-Aye are authentically cute animals, but I don’t think they belong in captivity at all.
They are Born to be Wild.
Because it’s better to post interesting info. on FR than on Fakebook or other social(ist) bass turd media.
Aye-aye yi!
Because we like these kind of stories posted in CHAT......
Give me three reasons why it shouldn't be posted here....
And who do you think you are to criticize what articles get posted?
I think it’s kind of cute!
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