Photo courtesy of http:\/\/majorlyenglish.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/02\/sloth1-r3-wm.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIf you have ever thought of owning a sloth for a pet, I think by the end of this post you will have changed your mind.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong, they are cute in their own ugly duckling sort of way, but once you find out what is going on in their fur you will realize that you are not just getting a pet sloth.<\/p>\n
The fur of a sloth provides an unique relationship to many species.\u00a0 In fact, there is actually a whole ecosystem thriving throughout this coarse fur.\u00a0 First of all, the sloth has formed a relationship with several\u00a0 species of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae).\u00a0 The cyanobacteria that live in the fur of the sloth offer a form of camoflage.\u00a0 Not only does this algae provide camoflage but it inevitabley attracts a host of other organisms.\u00a0 One study found 950 beetles living on a single sloth. That’s right, 950<\/strong> beetles crawling all over and feasting on the cyanobacteria.\u00a0 It doesn’t stop there though, there is a particular type of moth that depends on the sloth to survive.\u00a0\u00a0 This moth also lives in the fur and when the sloth heads to the ground, the moth will leave very quickly to lay its eggs in the dung before catching a ride back up the tree on the sloth.\u00a0 The eggs will hatch and the caterpillars will turn to moths and eventually find their own sloth ecosystem to live in. I am guessing by now that you have decided against a pet sloth and will probably end up buying a hamster.\u00a0 Just remember, if you see a sloth… don’t pet it!<\/p>\nSloth Fast Fact:<\/strong> Unlike most mammals the hair of a sloth actually grows away from the extremities.\u00a0 They have developed this feature to protect them from the elements while hanging upside down.<\/p>\nDid anyone else notice that by using “sloth” and “moth” so many times together that I was actually starting to sound like Dr. Seuss?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you have ever thought of owning a sloth for a pet, I think by the end of this post you will have changed your mind.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong, they are cute in their own ugly duckling sort of way, but once you find out what is going on in their fur you will realize that you are not just getting a pet sloth. The fur of a sloth provides an unique relationship to many species.\u00a0 In fact, there is actually a whole ecosystem thriving throughout this coarse fur.\u00a0 First of all, the sloth has formed a relationship with <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60,4024],"tags":[96,4025,95,98,97],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/wild-facts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/sloth1-r3-wm-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Smiling")
<\/a>