Skip to Main Content
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance logo
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library logo

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Distribution

Madagascar (from Andriaholinirina et al. 2014 unless otherwise noted)

  • Broadest distribution of any living lemur (Mittermeier et al. 2010)
  • Present in fragmented pockets across nearly all coastal areas
    • Concentrated in eastern, northern and central-western portions of the island

Introduced populations

  • Established on 2 islands off Madagascar's coast
    • Nosy Mangabe in the Bay of Antongil
    • Ile Roger, also known as "Aye-aye Island"

Habitat

Forest inhabitants (from Schwitzer et al. 2013)

  • Preferred forest types
    • Found in rainforest, deciduous forest, littoral forest, and mature and degraded secondary forest
    • Not found in spiny forest; historically home to the now extinct giant aye-aye species

Other habitat associations (from Schwitzer et al. 2013)

  • Take advantage of agricultural land 
    • Sugar cane, coconut, and clove plantations
  • Associated with ramy trees, though not exclusively (Canarium spp.) (Mittermeier et al. 2010)
  • Enter mangrove swamps and dry scrub forest

 

Adaptable (from Schwitzer et al. 2013)

  • Present across a broad range of climates
    • Distributional range experiences marked variation in temperature and rainfall patterns

Elevation range

  • 0-1,875 m (6,152 ft) (Andriaholinirina et al. 2014)

 

Distribution Map

map of Aye-Aye distribution

Aye-aye distribution.

Adapted from www-d.-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).

Page Citations

Andriaholinirina et al. (2014)
Mittermeier et al. (2010)
Schwitzer et al. (2013)

SDZWA Library Links