asked 209k views
5 votes
Why are aye ayes called that way? Plz help!

asked
User CesarB
by
8.1k points

2 Answers

4 votes

Answer:

Many people native to Madagascar consider the aye-aye an omen of ill luck. For this reason they often have been killed on sight. Such hunting, coupled with habitat destruction, have put aye-aye populations at-risk. Today they are protected by law.

Step-by-step explanation:

answered
User Alexey Semenyuk
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7.6k points
1 vote
One is that the name was coined by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat who said it was a ‘cry of exclamation and astonishment’, which the locals gave upon seeing the creature. The second is that ‘aye-aye’ is derived from the Malagasy phrase heh heh which means ‘I don’t know’. When the locals were asked what the creature was, they would answer‘heh heh’, either because they really didn’t know what it was or they were afraid to speak its name.
answered
User Ahwar
by
8.1k points
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