CHIROM VID. 695 
developed and distinct from the tibia. All the digits of both feet 
with pointed rather compressed claws, except the hallux, which has - 
a flattened nail. Middle digit of the hand excessively attenuated. 
Vertebrae: C 7, D 12, L 6,8 3, © 27. 
Chiromys..cThis family, like the last, is formed for the recep- 
tion of a single genus, Chiromys,? containing one species, C. mada- 
gascariensis, the Aye-aye, an animal about the size of a cat, with a 
broad rounded head, short face, and large and naked ears. It has 
very large hands and long thin fingers with pointed claws, one of 
which (the middle 
or third) is remark- 
able for its extreme 
slenderness.. The 
foot resembles that 
of the other lemurs 
in itslarge opposable 
hallux, with a flat 
nail, but all the 
other toes have 
pointed compressed 
claws, like that of 
the second toe in 
the Lemurine and 
the second and third 
in the Turstide. Tail . 
long and bushy. General colour dark brown, the outer fur being 
long and rather loose, with a woolly undercoat. Mammz two, 
inguinal in position. It is a native of Madagascar, where it was 
discovered by Sonnerat in 1780. The specimen brought to Paris by 
that traveller was the only one known until 1860. Since then many 
others have been obtained, and they may frequently be seen living in 
the gardens of the Zoological Society of London. Like so many of 
the Lemurs, the Aye-aye is completely nocturnal in its habits, living 
either alone or in pairs, chiefly in the bamboo forests. Observations 
upon captive specimens have led to the conclusion that it feeds princi- 
pally on succulent juices, especially of the sugar-cane, which it obtains 
by tearing open the hard woody circumference of the stalk with its 
strong incisor teeth. It is said also to devour certain species of 
wood-boring caterpillars, which it obtains by first cutting down 
with its teeth upon their burrows, and then picking them out 
of their retreat with the claw of its attenuated middle finger. It 
Fia, 331.—Skull of Aye-aye (Chiromys madagascariensis) xX £ 
Mus. Roy. Coll. Surgeons. 
1 Cuvier, ‘Table de Class.” in Légons @’ Anat. Comp. vol. i. (1800). 
2 It was first named Daubentonia by Geoffroy; but this name was withdrawn 
by its author in favour of Chiromys, as it had been previously given to a genus 
in the vegetable kingdom. This would not, however, constitute preoccupation 
according to the modern rules of nomenclature. 
