Stefan F. Wirth#Sloths do not represent a monophyletic taxon, but are despite of similar life styles #diphyletic, arboreal life style #evelved twice. Both clade have a very remarkable number of #associated #species on their #fur/skin, partly well studied for the #threetoed sloths.
© #StefanFWirth Berlin 2024
My full #blog article:
https://twitter.com/wirthstef/status/1761136500987613270?t=h3BOlJRIYdG_s8OrKjxhyw&s=19
Photo
#Bradypus #variegatus, author Stefan Laube, 2003, released into the public domain by its author,worldwide for any purpose without conditions.Wikipedia
Stefan F. Wirth (@wirthstef) on X
About #sloth #fur as a complex #ecosystem. Multicellular animals and plants almost always actually represent a #speciescommunity made up of a wider variety of organisms. Mobile animals from almost all multicellular animal taxa must therefore be referred to as #mobileecosystems.…