Tag Archives: study

Survived my first week

It’s Friday night after my first week at my new job. It’s been… well… I’m so used to things at the Uni and just, like, being IN CONTROL, that coming to a place where I don’t know where anything is and pretty much starting from scratch is a bit overwhelming!

But it’s all good. I know eventually I’ll settle into this new place and new role and actually I am quite enjoying learning a bunch of new techniques and getting to interact with a lot of new people (although I am missing the old faces quite a bit).

It’s been a CRAZY few weeks, what with submitting my PhD thesis, finishing up at the Uni, going away on holiday and starting this new job. Now I’m hoping things will calm down a bit and I can get cracking on this next phase of my life!

empositivityfocusImage courtesy Emm’s Positivity Blog.

 

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Methane production…in sloths…

I wasn’t going to write up about this Journal article published in June, as the results basically confirm what is already known/suspected about sloths:

“These results corroborate literature reports on low intake, low defecation frequency [and] low metabolic rate…in other sloth species.”

But then this caught my attention:

“In spite of the low food intake and the low-fibre diet…methane production was rather high…”

So, turns out, sloths got gas.

Lol.

babyslothcling

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How do sloths see the world?

Ever wondered what those gorgeous dark eyes are seeing when a sloth looks out onto the world? Humans are generally trichromats; our retinas possess three types of photoreceptors for recognising colour (“cone” cells), each of which has a different absorption spectra.

Xenarthrans (sloths, armadillos and anteaters) however, are rod monochromats. This condition in humans results in colourblindness, low vision in dim light, and almost complete blindness in bright light.

A new study, published in The Royal Society Proceedings journal, used many different genetic methods to conclusively show that the Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth is a monochromat. Furthermore, they concluded that these sloths have a long history of monochromacy. Based on fossil records, this may be a result of a historically subterranean lifestyle (ground-dwelling), that preceded the arboreal lifestyle (tree-dwelling) they live today, and hence restricted their evolution due to the dim light conditions.

“We searched the genome of…Choloepus hoffmanni (Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth)…for retinal photoreceptor genes and examined them for inactivating mutations. We hypothesize that rod monochromacy…evolved as an adaptation to a subterranean habitat in the early history of Xenarthra. The presence of rod monochromacy has major implications for understanding xenarthran behavioural ecology and evolution.”

So when you look into a sloth’s eyes, what do they see when they look back at you? If it’s day time, probably a light grey, blurry figure. But let’s just pretend otherwise, shall we?

upsidedownsloth

 

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What is the ideal habitat for a sloth?

In a study published last month in PLOS One by Mendes and colleagues, researchers examined the distribution of maned sloths in South America, and found that their habitat was restricted to the coastline of Brazil. journal.pone.0110929.g002This area is “between 0 and 2,349.86 m of altitude, with an annual temperature between 8.5 and 19.4°C, and an annual precipitation between 753.01 and 2,592.0 mm”. However, the amount of suitable habitat for the maned sloth may (worryingly) be lost in the coming years due to different factors such as deforestation.

Not only [should] conservation actions should be taken in the protected areas, but also they are dearly needed to restore and reconnect the surrounding habitats and other important ones where maned sloth is known.

If you would like to help in rainforest conservation and hence the maintenance of the maned sloth’s population, you can make a donation to the Amazon Conservation Association or the World Land Trust’s Atlantic Rainforest Project. bradypus_torquatus

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Sloths & Moths

Scientists studying sloths have recognized a syndrome of mutualism between sloths, moths and algae, that could explain how the sloth overcomes its “laid-back” lifestyle.

We discovered that sloths consumed algae from their fur, which was highly digestible and lipid-rich. By descending a tree to defecate, sloths transport moths to their oviposition sites in sloth dung, which facilitates moth colonization of sloth fur. Moths are portals for nutrients, increasing nitrogen levels in sloth fur, which fuels algal growth. Sloths consume these algae-gardens, presumably to augment their limited diet. These linked mutualisms between moths, sloths and algae appear to aid the sloth in overcoming a highly constrained lifestyle.

threetoedslothandmoths

The original journal paper can be downloaded from here, or you can watch this short YouTube clip explaining it in layman’s terms!

 

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