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Another fun fact about sloths. My wife is curator of a zoo and they have had some in the past. That slow digestion the article mentions? They probably have s
by bbarn 2y ago
Another fun fact about sloths. My wife is curator of a zoo and they have had some in the past. That slow digestion the article mentions? They probably have some of the worst smelling feces of any animal in the wild.
- nixass 2y ago[flagged]
- bell-cot 2y agoMight that be another part of their predator-discouraging strategies?
- greentxt 2y agoI doubt they can control the smell.
- bell-cot 2y agoPuffer fish can't control being poisonous, but it still discourages predators.
- lagniappe 2y agoPoor example, they're not naturally poisonous, it's dietary. Palytoxin and Ciguatoxin are not endogenous, the animal first has to eat another organism containing a dinoflagellate that creates these toxins, Gambierdiscus toxicus. This quality is inherent to most reef fish, especially ones with beaks.
- CubicsRube 2y agoLike tigers can't control their coat color or stripe pattern, but it has an evolutionary advantage so these traits persist.
- shellfishgene 2y agoProbably not, sloths only poop on the ground, which makes them vulnerable. Related post from the site: https://slothconservation.org/why-do-sloths-poop-on-the-ground/ https://slothconservation.org/why-do-sloths-poop-on-the-grou...
- wombatpm 2y agoSloths are also the only land mammals that can have more than 7 cervical vertebrae. Any other mammals born with more than 7 die quickly from cancer
- lagniappe 2y agoHang on, what? Specifically the cancer part