co the finger-animal Madagascar seems to be lively become a shape from the mythology of an Urbevölkerung. This secret, only at night active creature with the big, in front standing eyes, that light up in the limelight or in the photo-lightning like two light bulbs, absolutely leaves profess animal-shapes for us itself with this compares. It doesn't look at all like a semi-monkey - and indeed they had zoologist much effort, that to determine relational relationships to this animal-group.
Shape Everything at this animal is uncommon. The slim body is covered with one rough and long fur. This clearly more than body-long tail has long hair stiff until 10 cm. The head is big and wide, the face flat, mti of a pointed nose and notably big, oval, hairless ears. Head and torso of the animal are approximately 45 cm long. It is dark brown colored until black.
If one looks at skulls and teeth, so one believes to have a rodent before itself. Those, nagezahnähnlichen edge-teeth, are notably long 2 each in waiter and lower jaws. they grow back after type of the real Nagezähne continuously and are angeschliffen chisel-nicely. its roots, that are separate from the fore edge-teeth through a wide tooth-gap, stick out far to the back, until at those of the cheek-teeth. The hard enamel on the forefront and an one-sided wearing out causes the softer Dentin of the rear and with it a current "self-sharpening" of these teeth. Beside the big edge-teeth, the finger-animal only possesses 3 small ones, flachkronige cheek-teeth and a reduced front-molar in the upper jaw.
The small cheek-teeth absolutely don't go with a typical Nagergebiß, however. We must wonder why so huge teeth are trained in front if the animal is not at all capable to grind hard vegetable food with the cheek-teeth. An explanation for this uncommon combination will deliver the diet of the finger-animal to us.
The most notably, the hands of the finger-animal, that almost amount half of the entire arm-length, are however trained. The palm is relatively short and possesses long and thin fingers, whose tops sharpens in contrast to other primates (with exception of the pointed-croissants), claw-good nails carry.
The middle finger still towers above the other fingers about some and is notably thin, skeleton-like. The bones of this finger are very thin, and skin and muscles seem to be dried up.
The legs are longer than the arms, and the feet correspond to the picture of a typical primate-hand sooner. Only the big toe carries a flat nail, the other nails are claw-good. In contrast to the short thumb, the big toe is powerfully developed and, to compare (opponierbar) the remaining toes, and works like a typical primate-gripping-hand.
The skull of the finger-animal doesn't show any "face-crack" between noses and brain-part of the skull, as with other primates. The brain is originally and has an especially strongly trained Riechteil (Bulbus olfactorius). It resembles the Insektenfressertyp with it.
Way of life The finger-animal is a tree-inhabitant and lives in the east and west of the island Madagascar originally. It doesn't prefer any certain vegetation-zones and lives as well as in the mangroves or bamboo-thicket like in the big rain-forests up to 1000 m of height. It lives mainly in the area of the big branches and trunks.
The finger-animal leads a purely nightly way of life and spends the day in nests or hollow trees, where rolled up it sleeps, the body with the tail covers. In these nests, the females bring young to the world also once per year 1. The animals are at night moves and strolls unremittingly around. Finger-animals live probably mainly individually without claiming certain precincts alone for itself.
Food-search The finger-animal runs quadruped, it preferentially horizontal trunks, and only rarely, one can it, climbing at a vertical trunk, observes. It now and then percusses the bark of the tree-trunks with its bone middle finger. It looks for the larvae of Bohrkäfern, who ate walks for itself into the tree-trunks. Sniffing with the sensitive nose, and the big ears listens, the finger-animal locates the loot. If it found a promising boring, so this is widened with the chisel-good Nagezähnen until the fat mouthful with the thin, long middle finger can be out-fished.
The finger-animal gets also the pulp of hard fruits in same manner: A hole drills into the hard peel of a Kokusnuß with the edge-teeth and scratches arid middle finger the soft pulp with the bekrallten out. Hand and denture, yes the whole shape is specialized on this food-search.
While a shape-like specialization is widespread at a certain food-acquisition with the mammals, one thinks of the long tongue of the anteater or at the long neck of the giraffe, so however it means a peculiarity for the primates. Also in this relationship, as the finger-animal is also named, the Aye-Aye takes a special-position within the primates.
Even further tropical fruits, as mangos and Litschis, become beside bug-larvae and Kokusnüssen but also bird-eggs and different insects as well as bamboo-shoots and a lot of different tender plant-parts consumes.
The finger-animal sometimes hangs at a branch on that occasion with the hind legs in order to hold on to the food with the hands. In same manner, also the fur-care can be carried out. The long middle finger serves also as finery-organ on that occasion since the finger-animal doesn't possess a special finery-claw or a tooth-comb like the other semi-monkeys to the body-care.
Endangering The finger-animal is this at the most endangered mammal Madagascar. It is subject to the protection-regulations of the Washingtoner Artenschutzübereinkommens.
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