This Weird Ape’s Extra Long Fingers Give It A Disgusting Talent

Humans aren’t the only animals that pick their noses and eat the contents, a new study has shown.

For the first time, researchers have documented this behavior in a primate known as an aye-aye, an unusual-looking species of lemur. The findings were published in Journal of Zoology on Wednesday (26).

Anne-Claire Fabre, curator at the Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland and an associate professor at the University of Bern, observed an aye-aye picking its nose while filming the animals in the Duke Lemur Centera sanctuary and research facility in Durham, North Carolina.

Using a low-light camera, Fabre captured the female aye-aye, named Kali, enjoying this questionable hobby.

“It was impossible not to notice this aye-aye poking its nose,” Fabre, the study’s lead author, said in a note.

“This was not just a one-time behavior, but something he [o animal] was fully engaged, inserting his extremely long finger in a surprisingly long way into his nose and then eating whatever he could dig up from there, licking his finger clean.”

Including aye-ayes and humans, 12 primate species have been observed eating snot from the nose.

Unlike the relatively short fingers of humans, the aye-aye’s long, thin middle finger is perfectly shaped to reach deep inside the nose. A reconstruction of the animal’s nasal passage based on a CT scan suggests that its curved finger can reach up its throat to look for mucus.

Not much is known about why certain animals pick their noses.

In addition to nasal scanning, the aye-aye’s distinctive finger also helps it find food. The primate uses its elongated third finger to obtain food by tapping on wood and listening to the reverberations before extracting the larvae from within.

The aye-aye’s long middle finger has also captured the imagination in its native Madagascar, with some believing the animal to have prophetic qualities. Local legend says that if an aye-aye points the finger at you, you are marked for death.

Roberto Portela Miguez, senior curator at the Natural History Museum in London and co-author of the study, expressed hope that this new research might spark interest in the terrifying-looking little creature.

“Aye-ayes are highly endangered and they really need our help,” he said. The rare species is threatened due to habitat loss and hunting.

“Studies like this can help bring attention to the species, highlight how little we know about them, and get more people to support their conservation.”