A group of researchers from North Carolina State University has recently discovered that the lemur aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) has one extra finger than any other primate. The research team is calling the extra finger as a ‘pseudothumb’ due to its small shape. The group of researchers published their findings on Monday in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The lemur, which is native to Madagascar, happens to be the biggest nocturnal primate and one of the strangest of creatures. The study authors said that the extra little thumb on the hands of the lemur is complete with its own distinct fingerprints. Lead author Adam Hartstone-Rose said in a statement that the highly evolved fingers of the lemur, meant for finding grubs in tree branches, cause some difficulty for the lemurs to move about. The researchers suggest that the lemurs might have developed the additional thumb during the course of evolution to better support their grip.
The researchers discovered the previously unknown thumb during the dissection of an aye-aye’s hand. Co-lead author Edwin Dickinson and his team found one tendon to be uncharacteristically splitting into two. Dickinson, who is a postdoctoral researcher with the NCSU Department of Biological Sciences, told Live Science that “Rather than attaching to the ‘true thumb,’ like the muscle does in other primates, it actually split to send half of the tendon to the true thumb and half to an expanded bone in the wrist — a bone which we now know forms part of this novel sixth digit, the pseudothumb.”
After further examinations with other aye-ayes, the researchers confirmed the presence of the additional thumb in all of the seven lemurs that they tested, including one adolescent. The strange-looking lemur with rodent-like ever-increasing incisors, long digits, extra thumb, large brains and huge ears is one of the most intriguing creatures of the planet.
Helene Elliott is the senior reporter for News Raise. She covers Science news. She also has a keen interest in photojournalism. Helene holds a nomination for the prestigious Red Smith Award. She is married to author Dennis D’Agostino, a former publicist with the New York Mets.
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