Daubentonia

For the defunct legume genus, see Sesbania.

Daubentonia
Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
Superfamily: Lemuroidea
Family: Daubentoniidae
Gray, 1863[1]
Genus: Daubentonia
É. Geoffroy, 1795
Species

Daubentonia madagascariensis
†Daubentonia robusta

Synonyms

Family:

  • Cheiromyidae I. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1851
  • Chiromyidae Bonaparte, 1850

Genus:

  • Aye-aye Lacépède, 1799
  • Cheiromys G. Cuvier, 1817
  • Cheyromys É. Geoffroy, 1803
  • Chiromys Illiger, 1811
  • Myslemur Anon. [?de Blainville], 1846
  • Myspithecus de Blainville, 1839
  • Psilodactylus Oken, 1816
  • Scolecophagus É. Geoffroy, 1795

Daubentonia is the sole genus of the Daubentoniidae, a family of lemuroid primate native to much of Madagascar.

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is the only extant member. However, a second species known as the giant aye-aye (Daubentonia robusta) lived until recently, becoming extinct within the last 1000 years.[2]

  1. ^ Gray, J.E. (1863). "Revision of the Species of Lemuroid Animals, with the Description of some New Species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 31: 151. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1863.tb00390.x.
  2. ^ Nowak, R.M. (1999). Walker's Primates of the World (6th ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6251-9.