Wild sloths have symbiotic green algae and other organisms living in their fur. It’s adorable, isn’t it? But in captivity, sloths get bathed and hung up to dry. That’s adorable too. I suppose the zookeepers do it for the animals’ benefit but when I saw this clip, my first thought was that these sloths should be allowed to carry their symbionts.
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Science on the Land 
I knew some blokes in Moseley that had similar green symbiotic organisms…
Snork!
Edward Lear? Do I win a prize?
I don’t understand! So yes, you win a prize. How about these tasty hibiscus flowers?
My fault – wrong allusion – I meant Lewis Carroll who wrote The Hunting of the Snark.
Thanks for the hibiscus – does it work for memory loss?
Only at brillig.
🙂
Glad yo liked the sloths. I did wonder about the algae but can’t find any information about it on the Sloth sanctuary website…
This one? http://www.slothsanctuary.com/welcome/ I’m feeling quite relaxed already.
Adorable!
I’m glad you like the sloths.
Polar bears in many zoos also have green fur and for the same reason. This must make them first cousins to sloths and lichens. Most of your readers probably already know that polar bear skin is black, but the hairs (both guard hairs and undercoat) are not white. They grade from translucent to transparent, but they are hollow. The size of the cylindrical hole leads to Rayleigh scattering of most visible wavelengths, making it appear white. Physicists used to think that polar bear hair might act like optical fibers, but it doesn’t. The diameter of the hollow space restricts what species of algae can grow inside the hair. The Memphis Zoo keeps the water in the polar bear enclosure algae-free, so we miss out on green bears.
I didn’t know any of this and I thought you were joking until I Goofled and found this http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/bear-essentials-polar-style/characteristics/fur-and-skin
How amazing! I know plenty of scientists who work with Green Fluorescent Protein and its biochemical cousins, so I can easily envisage a GM bear that would be green. But these algae-colonised bears are something else entirely.