The fur of Costa Rican sloths appears to harbor antibiotic-producing bacteria that scientists hope may hold a solution to the growing problem of “superbugs” resistant to humanity’s dwindling arsenal of drugs.
Sloth fur, research has found, hosts bustling communities of insects, algae, fungi and bacteria, among other microbes, some of which could pose disease risk.
Yet, experts say, the famously slow-moving mammals appear to be surprisingly infection-proof.
“If you look at the sloth’s fur, you see movement: you see moths, you see different types of insects… a very extensive habitat,” Max Chavarria, a researcher at the University of Costa Rica, told AFP.
“Obviously when there is co-existence of many types of organisms, there must also be systems that control them,” he said.