Sloths have a reputation for laziness, but these easy-going mammals could be the world's best recyclers, suggests a new study that finds the poop of three-toed sloths attracts moths that colonize ...

Their fur is crawling with critters Sloth fur is long and coarse, and it features grooves and cracks that make a delightful home for things like beetles, moths, fungi, and (barf) cockroaches.

The moths spend their entire adult lives in the sloth fur. When they die, they stay in the fur and get broken down by the organisms growing there, such as the algae.

The fur of three-toed sloths house lots of little inhabitants: algae, fungi, moths, and beetles, for example.

Sloths may be hosting entire ecosystems in their thick, dense fur, and algae growth on sloths can grow so great that it tinges their fur green.

Sampling the fur of captive animals from The Sloth Sanctuary, co-author Max Chavarría and fellow University of Costa Rica researchers found a range of organisms that have the potential to keep ...

Health Sloth Fur Might Yield New Drugs Microbes living in the beasts' coats could be deadly to malaria and cancer cells. By Douglas Main Published Jan 22, 2014 7:16 PM EST ...

The researchers found that three-toed sloths can harbor more phoretic moths than their two-toed counterparts because of greater concentrations of inorganic nitrogen and higher algal biomass in their ...

Or, the moths may be directly transferring nutrients from the sloth dung to their fur, where algae can grow. The sloths consume the algae, which is rich in fatty compounds and gives them energy.