There's an animal that has a super long middle finger
It's like it's always pointing the middle finger at you.
We’ve all seen those people with super long nails. Particularly the pinkie finger to pick their noses and ears. But in most cases, they grow their pinkie nail for their “extra-” curricular activities, if you know what I’m saying.
There is one animal that subscribes to this trend. But it’s not their fingernails that are long; it’s their actual finger. And in this case, it’s the aye-aye’s middle finger.
The aye-aye is one of the many lemurs only found on Madagascar. They are the world’s largest nocturnal primate known for their unique appearance. And unlike most animals, they have rodent-like teeth that continuously grow.
But what really sets them apart is their middle finger.
Aye-ayes are omnivores, feeding mostly on seeds, fruits, nectar, nuts, honey, and insect larvae. They use their specialised, elongated finger to tap the surface of tree trunks and branches to locate hollow areas where insect larvae live.
Then, using their perpetually growing teeth, they gnaw away the outer bark and use their middle finger to extract their food.
This behaviour is similar to what we observe in other primate species such as orangutans and chimpanzees, which use sticks to fish food out of trees. The only difference is that the aye-aye has a permanent feature for this.
But what makes their super long finger even more interesting, is their finger’s ball-and-socket joint. Their joints are structured in a way that their finger can swivel in any direction, similar to our shoulders. And their finger is so long that they can reach their throat through their nostril.
For those curious, yes, they do use their finger to pick their nose and eat their mucus (delicious). They’re not so different from us after all.
I guess if you have a super long finger, you can really go to town with it and clear those airways. Or simply just give someone the finger.