Diligent matchmakers at the Duke Primate Center have been rewarded with the birth of a aye-aye, an early branch of the lemur evolutionary tree.

Angelique, the daughter of Ardry and Merlin - parents also born in captivity - was born Sept. 5.

Last week, when a center staff member brought Angelique from her cage, she had more than quintupled her birth weight of a little more than 4 ounces. She shares a cage with her mother.

Angelique's birth makes it all the more likely that the center's aye-ayes, the only colony in North America, can remain a viable one for years to come, said the center's new director, Anne Yoder.

Part of the difficulty so far in breeding aye-ayes is their slow maturation. Females become fertile at about 4 years; males may take much longer.

Merlin was 10 before he was ready to mate, but that might be because he lacked male models, said Dean Gibson, assistant director of the center.

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Information from: The Herald-Sun, http://www.herald-sun.com