We've updated our Privacy and Cookies Policy
We've made some important changes to our Privacy and Cookies Policy and we want you to know what this means for you and your data.
We're snot joking - lemur has special finger to pick nose!
Picking bogies might snot be as gross as we thought!
Now before you click away in disgust, hear us out - while nose-picking may be deemed impolite among us humans, it turns out a species of lemur has special fingers for doing exactly that.
They're called aye-ayes, and they live in Madagascar.
And researchers have, for the first time ever, recorded some of them using their long fingers to pick their noses, and then licking them clean - ew!
Image source, Victoria Gill
Aye-ayes are a species of primate, which is the same family of animals as humans.
They're not the first primates to have been discovered with the gross habit - 12 species, including humans, have been documented eating their bogies.
Scientists have recorded their findings in the Journal of Zoology. They say that these lemurs and their special nose-picking fingers may shed some light on why any of us pick our noses at all.
Image source, Getty Images
The research team used CT scans, which are usually used by doctors to take photos of the inside of your body.
They used them to look inside the skull and hand of an aye-aye lemur at the museum.
They were trying to imitate the position of the middle finger inside the nose - lead author Anne-Claire Fabre, a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum in London told the 大象传媒: "I wanted to know, where is this finger going?"
And what she and the other scientists found is that the lemur's finger is likely to get all the way into its throat!
Image source, Anne-Claire Fabre
Other scientific studies have suggested there may be health benefits to eating snot, but the researchers believe that in this case there is a chance that the lemur might just do it because of it texture, crunchiness and saltiness.
In other words, they think their bogies are delicious!
Anne-Claire said: "There is very little evidence about why we, and other animals, pick our nose."
She thinks this is because it's seen as a bad habit, although there is a little research on the subject.
Image source, Getty Images
One study suggested it plays a part in spreading harmful bacteria but there is at least one study suggesting that picking your nose and eating it might actually be healthy for teeth, as people who picked their noses reported fewer cavities.
But if you ever do it, be prepared for a big reaction!