 From an ecological point of view, the aye-aye fills the niche of a woodpecker, as it is capable of penetrating wood to extract the invertebrates within.The aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus "Daubentonia" and family Daubentoniidae.It is currently classified as Endangered by the IUCN; and a second species, "Daubentonia robusta", appears to have become extinct at some point within the last 1000 years.