What is that monkey doing with that one long finger? Find out …

We all do. Nobody does it, but we all know what it means: nose clouds.

Specific:

It’s not just people who pick their noses. In fact, there are at least 12 primate species that stick their fingers up their noses every now and then.

However, the Aye-Aye lemur seems to have perfected the art – it’s not for nothing that the primate species is called “finger animal” in German. In addition, he is an omnivore. (Literal …)

Do you feel a little uncomfortable seeing that one long finger?

A biologist from the Natural History Museum in Bern was interested in these fingers. Anne-Claire Fabre wanted to document the evolution of grasping behavior in primates. The nocturnal primates were filmed going about their daily lives at the Duke Lemur Center in the US state of Northern California. While analyzing the videos, Fabre witnessed a grip she probably didn’t really expect: a deep grip on the nose.

Fabre was intrigued by this observation:

Yes, it looks as scary as it sounds:

It was this video that inspired Fabre to further investigate nose-picking aye-ayes. As a first step, she wanted to clarify how the aye-aye-maki manages to stick its entire finger up its nose.

To do this, her team reconstructed the skull and hand of an Aye-Aye lemur and then calculated the “route” of the finger. The result is astonishing: the researchers assume that the animal can reach its mouth with its finger.

She published these and other findings this Wednesday in the “Journal of Zoology.” She emphasizes that nose picking in science is still a mystery. So far, only a few studies have explored the potential relevance of this behavior, Fabre writes. The only thing that is certain is that the worrying in the nose is seen as something repulsive and disgusting in humans.

However, it is a common behavior (although of course none of us do it). The fact that as many as 12 species are actively involved must mean something, according to them.

Further comparative research, she said, could not only provide valuable insights into the origin and function of nose picking, but could also be useful in medicine. (Sat)