Case file · Folklore / legend
The aye-aye, the omen of death
The French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat obtained the first aye-aye on the west coast of Madagascar in 1780; in many Malagasy villages this strange lemur with a long thin middle finger is feared as a harbinger of death.
1780 CE · -15.70, 46.30 · status: legend
The account
Beliefs vary: in some places an aye-aye pointing its finger at you foretells death and it is killed on sight, in others killing it brings misfortune. Its rarity owes much to forest loss as well as persecution. The point is approximate.
The sceptical view
An insect-eating primate whose odd anatomy fits it for tapping and extracting grubs from wood.