Mutual Grooming: Aye-ayes engage in reciprocal grooming, where individuals spend time grooming each other's fur. This social behavior strengthens their bonds, helps remove parasites, and maintains hygiene.
Food Sharing: Aye-ayes sometimes share their food with others. This behavior is mostly observed between mates, mothers, and offspring, but it can also occur among non-related individuals.
Collaborative Foraging: Aye-ayes may cooperate in foraging for food. They use their specialized, long fingers to locate insects and extract them from crevices. Sometimes, one individual may distract prey while the other tries to capture it.
Alloparenting: Female aye-ayes sometimes leave their young with other trusted females (allomothers) for short periods. These allomothers provide care and protection to the offspring while the mother forages for food.
Territory Sharing: Aye-ayes have overlapping home ranges, and they often share territories with related individuals. They may even tolerate the presence of unrelated individuals within their territory, as long as there are sufficient food resources.
Communication: Aye-ayes communicate using a variety of vocalizations, including low-frequency calls, trills, screams, and hisses. These calls serve various purposes, such as defending their territory, attracting mates, or expressing distress.
Kin Selection: Aye-ayes exhibit kin selection, which means they favor and support individuals who share their genes. This evolutionary strategy ensures the survival and success of their offspring and close relatives.
These behaviors demonstrate the interdependent nature of aye-ayes and highlight their social intelligence and cooperative tendencies. Aye-ayes rely on each other for mutual support, grooming, food sharing, and caring for their young, showcasing the importance of cooperation in their species' survival.