Ring-tailed lemur is a fidget from Madagascar. Description and photo of ring-tailed lemur. Lemurs in the sun Lemurs basking in the sun
To the question What is the behavior of ring-tailed lemurs? given by the author ¤ Elena ¤ the best answer is Ring-tailed lemur or ring-tailed lemur(lat. Lemur catta) - the most known species from the lemur family. This species belongs to a separate genus, although many experts place it in the genera Eulemur or Hapalemur. Belongs to the suborder of wet-nosed primates. Madagascar name ring-tailed lemur- poppies.
Ring-tailed lemurs live in herds organized according to the type of higher
primates, multi-male communities.
Superfamily of Madagascar lemurs - the most adapted group lower primates. They appeared in the Pleistocene. Unlike most species of lemurs, leading night image life, katta is a relatively diurnal form.
This typical representative of prosimians is also called ring-tailed lemur, because it is the size of a cat, covered with bluish-gray hair (it is this color of its soft and dense fur that prevails, although transitions to ash gray or rusty red tones are possible), muzzle, ears and the belly is whitish, the tip of the muzzle and the circumference of the eyes are black, it has a pair of lemon yellow eyes and a long tail beautifully decorated with black and white
rings. He even screams, similar to a cat's meow! But this is where the similarities end: catta, like many other prosimia, is a vegetarian.
Ring-tailed lemurs are macrosmatics (they have a well-developed sense of smell, there are two lobes of the olfactory brain). The nose is built according to the haplorin type. They live in a world of smells, using them to communicate. Katta has three pairs of musk glands: one is located on the inside of the wrists and opens through horny spikes, the other is on the chest, near the armpits, and the third is the anal glands near the genitals. With the help of glands, males and, to a lesser extent, females literally build a barrier of smells around them. From
an animal separates from a group wandering through the forest, approaches a tree, sniffs it, finding out who has been here before it, then turns its back to the tree, lowers itself on its front paws, and lifts its back part as high as possible and rubs against the trunk with anal glands. Very often, even two minutes do not pass, as this tree is marked by another individual.
Male katta use the smell not only to leave autographs, but also as a weapon. When the male prepares for a duel with an opponent, he rubs the axillary glands with his wrists, passes his fluffy tail between his legs, presses it to his chest and pulls it between his wrists so that it is abundantly saturated with secretions of the glands. Armed in this way, the rivals, standing in front of each other on all fours, straighten their hind legs and thrash their luxurious overdressed tails on their own backs, directing the wave
smell towards the enemy.
Due to their diurnal lifestyle, ring-tailed lemurs have relatively small diurnal eyes. Although katta are active during the day, their eyes have a reflective layer behind the retina that enhances the ability to see in the weakest light. Vision is not stereoscopic, but sensitive to color. The accuracy of perception of surrounding objects allows them to determine the degree of ripeness of the fruit and the freshness of the leaves, as well as to detect in the thicket the presence of other animals that would go unnoticed in a monochrome world. Color for monkeys is also a means of communication - these are the most brightly colored animals of all mammals in the world!
Tactile sensitivity is well developed - lemurs have the so-called "tactile skin", which allows them to "see with their hands." On the palmar surface, a scallop relief is expressed - alternation of depressions and elevations, papillary patterns are primitive, rectilinear.
Manipulation of inedible objects in lemurs is much better developed than in other prosimians. Such games with objects are regarded as an important pre-adaptation for the development of intelligence. Source: .
Answer from MORBID[guru]
This species belongs to a separate genus, although many experts place it in the genera Eulemur or Hapalemur. Belongs to the suborder of wet-nosed primates. The Madagascar name for ring-tailed lemur is maquis. Of all lemurs, ring-tailed lemurs spend the most time on the ground, which is an adaptation to a partially arid environment. Ring-tailed lemurs are active during the daytime and are very public image life. They are found in groups of 20 to 30 individuals. Within the groups, a strict hierarchy reigns, the leaders are mainly females. They have the pre-emptive right in choosing food and a partner. While females usually stay in the groups they were born into, males repeatedly move to new groups. The family group covers an area of 15 to 57 acres. Every day, lemurs walk around their territory in search of food. They show aggression towards strangers. Ring-tailed lemurs willingly sit in the sun and enjoy its warmth, spreading their arms to the sides.
Answer from Balance[guru]
Behavior Of all lemurs, ring-tailed lemurs spend the most time on the ground, which is an adaptation to a partially arid environment. Ring-tailed lemurs are active during the daytime and lead a very social lifestyle. They are found in groups of 20 to 30 individuals. Within the groups, a strict hierarchy reigns, the leaders are mainly females. They have the pre-emptive right in choosing food and a partner. While females usually stay in the groups they were born into, males repeatedly move to new groups. The family group covers an area of 15 to 57 acres. Every day, lemurs walk around their territory in search of food. They show aggression towards strangers. Ring-tailed lemurs willingly sit in the sun and enjoy its warmth, spreading their arms to the sides.
Answer from User deleted[guru]
Miss Justice switched to animals? So it’s better: among your own people it’s always calmer))
Ring-tailed lemur on Wikipedia
Check out the wikipedia article on ring-tailed lemur
Beautiful unique animal ring-tailed lemur familiar to many people with their amusing appearance. This animal has got into more than one cartoon due to its cute appearance and interesting behavior.
Primate ring-tailed lemur belongs to the suborder of wet-nosed. Until our time, up to 100 species are known to scientists. They also include extinct animals. Before recently in 1999 they included only 31 species.
As you can see, there have been some changes in their classification. After these changes ring-tailed lemur prosimian became a strepsirrhine primate, which are the most ancient primates on earth.
There is incredible diversity in the lemur family. Among them there are very small, one might even say tiny representatives, with a weight of 30 grams, and vice versa, large ones with a weight of up to 10 kg.
For some, it is preferable to lead a nocturnal lifestyle, while others prefer to sleep at night. Some lemurs eat strictly as vegetarians, while others prefer a mixed diet. The same diversity is observed in the color of animals, their forms and other parameters of appearance.
All types of lemurs are characterized common features:
- On the second finger of the hind limbs, all lemurs have a long claw. His animals are used to comb their fluffy fur.
“They all have long fangs and incisors in their lower jaws.
The names of many animals come from Greek mythology. It is from its sources that the word is translated as a night spirit. This name came to these animals because of the mystery nightlife and incredible big eyes like the aliens.
Little is known about how these animals originated. There are several rather fantastic versions about this. Allegedly in the XIX century in the Indian Ocean was the ancient continent of Lemuria.
Part of this area is an island. It was there that the first lemurs lived. Since this island was discovered by people, and this is about 1500 years ago, for some reason, 8 genera and 16 species of lemurs have disappeared.
As modern zoologists suggest, they all preferred to lead a day life, were distinguished by their slowness and impressive size.
Maybe that's why they were excellent and easy prey for hunters of those times, who greatly appreciated the meat and skin of lemurs. In addition, these animals did not have a high reproductive rate, and their population had an extremely low density in those places.
Pictured is a ring-tailed lemur catta
About the ring-tailed lemur and in the present tense they say that he is in danger complete disappearance. This is primarily due to the destruction of their habitual habitat, environmental disasters. Therefore, many species of lemurs are listed in the Red and are under reliable protection.
Description and features of the ring-tailed lemur
Description of ring-tailed lemur largely matches the description. In fact, they are very similar to each other. Same size, same gait. A lemur and a cat can be recognized from afar by their haughty and plastic gait with their tail held high up.
Ring-tailed lemur in the photo looks like an alien from other worlds. There is something mysterious and mystical about it. Curious is the fact that on his beautiful tail there are exactly 13 stripes, and the tip of the tail is black.
On average, this cute animal weighs about 3.5 kg. Its tail weighs about 1 kg. The body of the animal has a length of 37-44 cm, the length of its tail reaches 60 cm. Its ring-shaped tail bends and has a spiral shape.
Reproduction and lifespan
mating season for lemurs, it begins in April. At this time the males different ways they try to attract the attention of females and at the same time scare off possible rivals with their smell.
After 222 days of pregnancy, the female gives birth to one cub. Up to 6 weeks, the baby eats mother's milk, after which it gradually switches to solid food. And at 5 months, he can live on his own.
AT wild nature it is difficult for these gentle animals to survive. It is known that about 50% of young animals die in early age. Those who survived can live up to 20 years under such conditions. In captivity, they live up to 30 years.
AT recent times it became fashionable to keep exotic animals at home. Domestic ring-tailed lemurs one of those. In order for the animal to be comfortable, you need to know some important nuances before as buy a ring-tailed lemur.
The main thing is that it is necessary that there is enough space in the cage for its maintenance for free movement. His cage should not be in a draft, the animal is sometimes exposed to colds, as a man.
In the photo, a family of lemurs basks in the sun
In all other matters cat lemur at home quite unpretentious. These animals cannot breed in captivity. This is one of their main disadvantages. Ring-tailed lemur price averages up to $1,000.
The world is full amazing creatures, some of them are well-known and widespread, others live in certain places and are rarely seen. Lemurs are a suborder of primates that live almost exclusively on the island of Madagascar. Nature rewarded them fluffy tail and large, round eyes. Here are 30 interesting facts, which you may not have known about these cute and fluffy animals.
Facts about Madagascar
Lemurs have always lived in Madagascar.
They used to live in African continent, but could not cope with the competition of monkeys.
Madagascar - the habitat of lemurs - the fourth largest island in the world.
When Madagascar broke away from the continent, lemurs traveled to the island on a drift tree.
Appearance of lemurs
The smallest species are called pygmy or pygmy mouse lemurs and weigh about 30 grams.
The nails of lemurs are flat, like those of humans.
To enhance the smell, they use their tail as a fan when communicating.
The tail of lemurs is longer than their body and, in addition to communication, is used to maintain balance.
The second toe of the hind paws of the lemur is used for combing.
A two-year-old lemur already counts adult, although few of the cubs survive to this age.
Of all the primates, lemurs are the most different from humans.
The smallest individual of the lemur weighs 30 grams, and the largest can reach almost 8 kg.
Blue-eyed lemurs are one of only two primate species whose eyes are actually blue.
Lemur life
Lemurs eat mainly fruits and leaves, their favorite delicacy is Indian dates.
They can also eat flowers, insects, grass, as well as bark and rotten wood.
Lemurs sunbathe in the morning in whole colonies in the sun.
They communicate through scents.
If the lemur feels threatened, it attacks the enemy with its short nails.
When there is not enough food around, they may hibernate briefly.
Olfactory glands are located on the wrists of lemurs.
Fighting among themselves for a female, lemurs try to drive away the enemy strong smell, which is applied to the tail with the help of the wrists, after which it is violently waved.
These animals are well adapted to different conditions; they are able to slow down the metabolism in their body and even not give birth to cubs if circumstances do not allow.
Lemurs spend most of their lives in trees.
Because of this, their gait is very funny - moving on land, the animal raises its front paws up and makes wave-like movements.
Some more interesting facts
The species name comes from the Latin word lemures, meaning "night ghosts".
The ring-tailed lemur, or catta, spends more time on the ground than other subspecies.
Lemurs belong to the order of "wet-nosed" primates.
Unfortunately, little hands, or aye-ayes, often fall into traps, locals consider them "evil spirits".
Unlike other animals, lemurs do very well in captivity.
The life expectancy of lemurs is on average 16 to 18 years.
Stand out side by side interesting features unique to these beings.
Let's find out together what is so unusual about them that attracts the attention of not only researchers, but also ordinary people.
1. The name Lemur in Latin means "ghost of the night."
2. Ring-tailed lemurs spend more time on the ground than all other lemur species.
3. Lemurs are the original inhabitants of the animal world of Madagascar.
4. Lemurs belong to the "prosimians" (Prosimians), special kind primates, the so-called "semi-monkeys".
5. Most small view Lemur, known as the "Dwarf mouse" or "Pygmy mouse" weighs only 30 grams.
6. Unfortunately, due to superstitions, local residents have declared a real hunt for Ai-Ai Lemurs, which they consider to be accomplices of evil spirits and destroy with the help of traps and traps.
7. Lemurs have flat nails, very similar to human ones.
8. The lemur's diet consists mainly of fruits and leaves, and they are especially fond of dates, which can sometimes make up to half of their annual diet.
9. They also eat insects, flowers, grass, bark, drink juice, and sometimes do not disdain rotten wood.
10. Every morning, lemurs bask in the sun, mostly in whole groups.
11. In addition to sounds, these animals also use aromas to communicate with their relatives.
12. It is interesting that lemurs sometimes use the tail when transferring the smell, directing it in the right direction.
13. It is noteworthy that the length of the lemur's tail exceeds the length of the body, exceeding half a meter in some species.
13. On the second finger of each hind limb is the so-called "Toilet claw", which the lemur uses mainly for self-care.
14. Under the threat of attack, lemurs attack the enemy with their short nails.
15. If there is a lack of food, then they simply hibernate for a while.
16. Although the lemur is not a very frequent inhabitant of zoos, nevertheless, these animals do well in captivity.
17. Life expectancy is about eighteen years.
18. In the wrists of the lemur are special glands that emit odors.
19. In addition to communication, these glands are used by males in the so-called "smell war" when they fight for females or territory.
20. Mature age for lemurs is two years old, but few babies even live up to this time.
21. This is the most distinct species of all primates from humans.
22. Once lemurs lived in Africa, but the monkeys were too strong competitors for them.
23. , the place where they live is the fourth largest island in the world.
24. Lemurs are very different in size: the smallest weighs 30 grams, and the largest can be up to 7 kilograms.
25. Blue-eyed lemurs are one of only two (not including humans) primate species that have truly blue eyes.
26. Lemurs moved from Africa to Madagascar by swimming, using trees that they clung to with their long tails.
27. These animals are able to manage their own metabolism, slowing it down if necessary to save energy when food is scarce.
28. Most species of lemurs spend most of their lives high up in the trees where they reside.
By the way, when you go on a trip to distant Madagascar, you will probably take a bunch of wearable electronics with you, from a camera and a smartphone to a tablet and a laptop, so you will definitely need a reliable and capacious mobile power source, in other words, you will need to buy an additional external battery or even not one. After all, despite the clear progress and successes of Madagascar in technological development, access to stationary electricity is far from being available in all places visited by tourists, and where lemurs can be found, electricians are often not at all for many miles around.
In Madagascar there are no monkeys, ungulates (except for the brush-eared pig, now extinct hippos and feral bulls), no rhinoceroses, elephants, predators (except for several types of viverras), hares, real rats and mice, some reptiles (for example, agamas and monitor lizards), many African birds.
But there are local ones that do not live anywhere else, as they say, endemics. First of all (besides chameleons, of which there are 35 species!) these are lemurs: two-fifths of all Madagascar mammals. The rest, almost three-fifths, are tanrecs. Golden the bats- one species representing a special family, also only Madagascar. Total: five endemic animal families - three prosimians, one tanrek and one golden bats. Four endemic bird families, two subfamilies of frogs, one python, and two iguana genera known to be found only in South America, apart from one more genus in the Fiji Islands.
Similarities with the fauna of distant continents are demonstrated not only by these huge lizards, iguanas, but also frogs typical of the Indo-Malayan region, rodents related to the American ones, tanrecs are the "cousins" of the Antilles flint teeth, and, finally, the lemurs themselves, which, apart from Africa, are also found in very remote South Asian countries.
How could such a zoological cocktail come together in Madagascar?
The most probable explanation: once all these now distant islands and continents were connected by land. This alleged giant continent, which 150 million years ago combined Africa with Madagascar, South America, Australia, South Asia and possibly Antarctica is called Gondwana or Gondvania. It split, forming the modern continents and islands. The first to sail to the southeast was Australia and, apparently, Antarctica. The sea began to advance on that area of \u200b\u200bGondwana, which is now flooded Indian Ocean. But a significant part of the continent connected Africa with Asia through the islands of Madagascar, Comoros, Amirante, Maldives, Laccadive and others. It is often called Lemuria, since, perhaps, this mainland served as the center for the development of lemurs. And to this day, the largest number of their species has been preserved in Madagascar, this "trembling heart" of the lost Gondwana. Madagascar was connected to Africa a very long time ago and, apparently, once again during the ice age through a chain of intermediate islands (Comoros and others). Then, probably, hippos, later extinct here, and bushy pigs moved to it.
All Madagascar semi-monkeys are from the infraorder Lemuriformes. Three families: true lemurs (16 species, of which 6 are dwarf lemurs), indri (4 species), mites (1 species).
All real lemurs have lush, long, monochrome tails. Only the catta tail is streaked with transverse black and white rings. There are five more species in the genus of real lemurs, all live on trees, and katta lives on the ground and generally avoids forests and trees, preferring the rocky regions of Southern Madagascar to them. His way of life is predominantly diurnal, as, indeed, in other representatives of his genus, except for the vari lemur, which, it seems, is also the only one of them who builds nests.
The tail of the katta is the main informational organ: like a black and white striped flag, pulled up, it excites the associates of the katta. When katta points his "flag" in their direction, they purr, meow with satisfaction. But usually the beginning of the "interview" is preceded by aromatization of the tail. Bending it under him and passing it under his belly between all four paws, katta presses the end of the tail to internal parties right and left forearm. Rubs on glands marked with horny spines. Having perfumed his tail, he first raises it above his head and, waving it, as if blowing the fragrance acquired by the tail, squeaks, purrs, meows plaintively.
This is followed by rather mysterious manipulations, the meaning of which is not yet entirely clear.
Standing on its hind legs, katta brings the tail forward and, bending either the right or the left front hand to it, again rubs the tail with them. Picks up leaves, pieces of bark from the ground and, pressing them to the same glands, rubs them with sharp movements. Then it rubs against the branches with the glands of the forearms, armpits and anal glands, which the katta also has.
Obviously, this is how he marks the boundaries of his revere. But tail chafing is less understandable. If this is "cosmetics", wool lubrication, then why only the hair of the tail?
Katta walks along the ground, elegantly bending its chic tail over its back. Wild bananas and figs are eaten carefully so as not to stain the fur. Taking it in its paws, it peels off the peel with its teeth, and then, throwing its head back so that the juice flows directly into the mouth and does not stain the fur, it eats the peeled fruit. He likes to bask, "sunbathe" in the sun, sitting on a stone and spreading his four limbs and tail wide apart. The jumps of the animal are graceful and excellent: it jumps three meters up like a rubber ball, without difficulty.
All lemurs somehow mark the boundaries of their possessions. Some do it like galagos and tupai, others do it differently. For example, the black lemur. He has many sweat glands on his palms and wrists, and he diligently rubs tree branches with his paws.
Each flock of black lemurs has its own feeding territories. If neighbors violate them, all legitimate owners immediately rush to protect their borders. Noise, screams, bickering are common in such border conflicts. But overnight stays, always on the same certain place, many of these groups, who were at war with each other during the day, have common ones. Each flock comes there in its own way, announcing the forests with wild cries along the way, and leaves at dawn by the same way. A white-bearded female of the highest rank walks in front, followed by all the others in single file. The pace of movement of the column either speeds up or slows down; stragglers, and there will always be such, shout angrily, demanding to wait for them. Babies usually fall behind. And with the kids, everyone in the flock is gentle and caring. Whether they are their own, whether they are strangers - they are caressed, licked, combed.
Because of the white-whiskered females, a zoological misunderstanding happened. The males of these lemurs are brown-black, and the females are red with a white mustache, or rather sideburns. At first, they decided that both of them were animals of different species.
Black, or macaque, lemurs jump through the trees with eight-meter jumps and rush through the foliage like birds! When are they being persecuted? predator birds, black lemurs escape like moths fleeing the echo direction of bats: they fall down from the height of a tree, rush through the lower branches and undergrowth like lightning, then along the ground through the thick of bushes to a distant tree and further along the peaks.
Nine tenths of Madagascar's forests have been destroyed by logging. This threatens the death of many species of lemurs. The dwarf upland lemur already seems to be extinct. The same fate awaits, apparently, in the near future the lemur vari.
The lemur is interesting. He has lush sideburns and a thick collar around his neck. And the wool is surprisingly dense for a tropical dweller, so dense that torrential streams do not penetrate it. It is painted very beautifully: some races have piebald, black and white fur, others have red and black. Lives in tall forests in the north of the island.
Vari is the only nocturnal animal in the genus of true lemurs. And the only one who builds nests. The female, before the cubs are born, tears the wool on her sides and lines the nest with it. The mother wears the baby like a belt across the abdomen, later on the back.
He does not part with her for a long time. But the two-month-old is already jumping and playing with his father.
Vari, like katta, purrs, meows when his peace of mind is not disturbed. But, excited or frightened, he utters such terrible and deafening cries that a chill runs through the skin even of a distant listener. When the Wari suddenly decide to scream in zoos, troubles happen to nervous visitors. In the wild mountain forests echoed repeatedly, the choir cries of the wari sound especially eerie.
For these heartbreaking screams and the manner of basking on morning sun with outstretched arms and a muzzle turned to the sun (in a prayerful pose), the Malagasy previously considered this half-monkey a sacred sun-worshipper. They were afraid and did not offend the vari. And they are accustomed not to be afraid of people. Nowadays, civilization and education have freed many from old superstitions, and the Varis have lost their age-old "protection letter". So strangely and differently depends the well-being or death of animals on the ancient belief of man in the supernatural.
So far, we have been talking about Madagascar semi-monkeys from the subfamily of true lemurs. In the latter, in addition to the genera of lemurs and hapolemurs, there is one or two more species of "frisky" lemurs from the genus Lepilemurs. Frisky lemurs are interesting in that they will say standing up in the trees, like a soldier. Pushing off the branches only with straightened hind legs and balancing with arms and tail outstretched to the sides (I’ll also say looking ahead, the indris also jump). Lepi-lemurs do such acrobatics at night, so it is impossible to see these circus numbers. But recently in Madagascar they did a great study of lemurs and examined all this through a telescope in infrared light.
The newborn lepilemur cub is so weak that for the first days he cannot hold on to his mother, and she carries him in her mouth.
In the family of true lemurs, but in the subfamily of dwarfs, there are six more species, and among them the smallest of the primates is mouse lemur.
He's like a big mouse. Gray above, white below, on the muzzle along the bridge of the nose white stripe. Nocturnal animal, feeds on insects, some fruit. During the day, he sleeps in hollows, lining them with leaves. o Often builds bird-like nests of twigs in the forks of trees and lines them with wool.
And one more thing: the mouse lemur stores fat and in the hot dry season of the year, from July to September, sleeps without waking up day or night.
Newborn babies (two or three in one litter) are so tiny - a thousand times smaller than a human. The mother carries the babies, grabbing the skin on her side with her teeth, and they never hang on it either from below or on the back.
The indriev family is special. It has four types: indri, diadem sifaka, sifaka Verro and avagi.
The largest is the indri when standing on its hind legs - 93 centimeters. But he has a tiny tail. All Madagascar lemurs have long tails. Long and all other indriyas (although almost without muscles and therefore seem to be useless). There are also black indris, and almost white ones, but usually a combination of tones like that of a Siamese cat: beige with dark brown. The muzzle is hairless, black. The throat sac is connected to the larynx. Obviously, this is a resonator; Indri's voice is powerful, "with mournful intonations and harmonious modulations." In his cries one can hear both human cries of anguish and horror, and something canine, which is why they called him " forest dog". And "indri" - due to a misunderstanding: from the Malgash "indri izyu" ("like this"). The exclamation, irrelevant to the case, was taken as the local name of the animal.
The old legend also explains the nickname of the indri "amboanala" ("forest dog") in this way: in the old days, the indri was supposedly tamed for hunting birds. There are many legends about him in Madagascar: and the fact that he brother man, and that it is dangerous to hunt him. Firstly, because the thrown spear grabs the indri on the fly and immediately accurately throws it at the hunter. Secondly, he is a sun worshiper. At sunrise, in the morning hours, indri and sifaka, turning to the east and raising their hands to the sky, bask in the rays of the sun. The pose in the human eye is prayerful, hence the superstitious fear of imaginary priests of the sun.
The sifaka's muzzle is elongated and hairless, like that of the indri, but the tail is long and the ears are small, hidden in the wool. The coloration is changeable, with yellow, red, white tones. The sifakas have a better developed patagium than all the indrians: elongated skin on the sides of the arms up to the armpits and chest. This is the rudiment of a parachute, which we see in perfect form in flying squirrels and other gliding animals.
The avagi is in general similar to the sifaka, but smaller, the muzzle is rounded and overgrown with hair, as if the avagi, the only one in its family, is always unshaven. Brownish-gray with a red tail. Nocturnal animal, other indriyas are diurnal.
All four are vegetarians. Everyone jumps up the trees, like lepilmurs, vertically, pushing off and clinging after the jump only with their hind legs with such force that sifakas, for example, often fly ten meters. They climb, calmly moving their paws. They hop on the ground on their hind legs, arms outstretched in front of them. Jumps are great - four meters!
In the northeast and in some places in the northwest, in the surviving dense forests and bamboo jungles of Madagascar, ay-ay lives. In Russian, they also call him an arm, although "needleworker" would be more suitable.
Here he woke up at sunset. He got out of the hollow and the first thing, as usual with lemurs, is combing his hair. He diligently cleans his black fur, and his ears, and eyes, and nose. His fingers are surprisingly long, and the third is especially thin, as if shrunken, it seems that only long, long bones remained in it. With the third finger, the handle and cleans.
Having finished this business, he jumps through the trees. He finds an old tree eaten by beetle larvae, and with a dry finger taps on the bark, like a woodpecker with a beak. He knocks and, putting his big sensitive ears to the trunk, listens: will there be a void somewhere under the bark, will the stupid fat larva give itself away with cowardly fuss?
As soon as this happens, ay-ay immediately puts his amazing teeth into action. He has them like a squirrel: there are no fangs, and there are only two incisors above and below. And the incisors are just like those of a rodent: without roots, they grow all their lives. Enamel is only on the front, there is no enamel on the back, and therefore the teeth are self-sharpening. Because of them, it was believed before that aye-aye is closer to rodents than to primates. Established for him one special detachment. But the famous English biologist Richard Owen, having studied the milk teeth of the arm, found that, by all indications, these are the teeth of a primate. They change a lot with age. And they change because the little arm, although not a rodent, needs teeth to gnaw.
So, having established the exact location of the branched passages of bark beetles, ah-ah gnaws at the bark. Having bitten a hole in it, he sticks a long third finger into the hole and extracts the larva.
He eats ah-ah sugar cane, gnaws at strong coconut shells, mangrove fruits. And give him an egg, so he will gnaw a neat hole in it, then with the same irreplaceable finger, without breaking the shell, he will extract the yellow-white contents in parts and eat it.
Do you know how he drinks ah-ah? Finger. He quickly dips it into the water: dip it and suck it, dip it and suck it.
Skillful, squirrel-like, balls-nests (half a meter in diameter) ai-ai weaves from the leaves of a very famous palm tree "Travelers' Tree" and strengthens with dry branches.
People are not very afraid and often, instead of running, they scratch and bite. For centuries it was guarded by human superstitions. To kill an arm, the old belief claimed, means signing a death sentence for yourself, which will come into force no later than six months later. If a man falls asleep in the forest, and the little arm sees him, he will build him a pillow from branches. If, upon waking up, a person finds a pillow under his head, he will be rich. If underfoot, he will soon die, unfortunate.
But much has changed in Madagascar, and, most importantly, the forests in which the little hands lived are being cut down. Animals are very rare, dying out. True, the government of the Malgash Republic decided to save the little hands. A small island off the northeast coast of Madagascar has been allocated for their residence.
"Before 1966, nine bats were relocated there. Of course, these are only the first measures that should ensure the salvation of the species" (Dr. Kurt Kollar).