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Studying mammals: Life in the trees
Studying mammals: Life in the trees

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Figure 7
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Figure 7: Macdonald, D. (ed.) (2001), The New Encyclopedia of Mammals, Oxford University Press
Figure 7 (a) The skull of the aye-aye, with substantial rodent-like incisors and modest cheek teeth; the dental formula (not discernable here) is I1/1, C0/0, P1/0, M3/3. The aye-aye is able to exploit a wide range of food sources: it can cope readily with seeds, using its incisors to cut through the husks; and it is also fond of nectar. (b) The skull of an indri, where the incisors form the toothcomb characteristic of prosimians (though the number of teeth that contribute varies between species); the dental formula of a typical lemur is I2/2, C1/1, P3/3, M3/3, but in this regard too there is considerable variation amongst the group. (c) The skull of the needle-clawed bush-baby, the largest of the bush-baby species. Here the canines and the premolars are well developed and strengthened, such that the toothcomb is able to gouge holes in the bark. The total anterior-posterior length of each skull is indicated

 5.6 Aye-ayes