Chapter 1
The survival strategy of being incredibly slow
Chapter 2
The mobile ecosystem living in sloth fur
Chapter 3
The dangerous weekly toilet trip
Chapter 4
From giants to tree dwellers
Chapter 5
Superpowers you didn't know they had
YOUR GOAL
Master of The secret life of sloths
Ch 2 · The mobile ecosystem living in sloth fur
artiteacher Sloth Fur Ecosystem
Got a garden in my fur! (In my fur!) Moths make the algae grow! (Oh-oh!) It's delicious, don't you know! (Yeah!)
artiteacher Female Cryptoses choloepi moths lay eggs in fresh dung when sloths poop, providing food for their hatching larvae
Fun Fact
Sloth moths: A single sloth can host over 120 moths in its fur, which help nourish the algae the sloth eats [2].
Glossary
sloth moth (noun)
A specialized snout moth that lives exclusively in the fur of sloths. Researchers in Costa Rica found that individual sloths can host over one hundred of these insects.
A specialized snout moth that lives exclusively in the fur of sloths. Researchers in Costa Rica found that individual sloths can host over one hundred of these insects.
Quiz
Which human disease did sloth fur fungi show potential in fighting during lab tests?
Quiz
In which country did researchers find disease-fighting fungi in sloth fur in 2014?