Aye-aye Daubentonia madagascariensis

The Aye-aye, named after the native Malagasy word for the animal, is a rarely-seen nocturnal lemur endemic to parts of Madagascar. At some 3 feet long, half of which is a fat, bushy tail, it is the largest nocturnal primate. It has mainly black fur with some light hairs, over-sized ears and is mainly solitary.

Its diet includes fruit and seeds but also insects and grubs, the latter being prised from holes bitten into tree bark using sharp teeth to make the hole and its peculiar long very thin middle finger (above) to extract the grub (the woodpecker niche).

Its nocturnal habit, generally elongated fingers and the extremely long thin middle finger have given rise to native superstitions associating the Aye-aye with bad luck, crop failure and death, so that it is often killed when sighted. This, together with deforestation, has resulted in the Aye-aye, once thought extinct, to be classed as endangered.