Sloths: the unusual hairs from these shaggy heteroclites

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dc.contributor.authorTridico, SRen_AU
dc.contributor.authorVongsvivut, JPen_AU
dc.contributor.authorKirkbride, KPen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-12T00:11:11Zen_AU
dc.date.available2024-01-12T00:11:11Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2023-12en_AU
dc.date.statistics2023-12-15en_AU
dc.description.abstractModern sloths, comprising six species within the Bradipopidae and Choloepodidae families, together with the anteaters and armadillos represent an ancient order of distinctive and remarkable placental mammals. Unfortunately, these animals are both endangered and trafficked. Whilst there have been many in-depth studies surrounding the physical and genetic adaptations of sloths required in order to live an almost exclusive arboreal lifestyle, in comparison, literature describing another remarkable feature that they are renowned for – their hair – are somewhat varied in their conclusions. In keeping with their distinctiveness among mammals, sloths exhibit striking and unusual morphological features in their hair. Microscopical images of these features captured using transmitted visible light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are presented, which it is hoped will assist those carrying out forensic wildlife examinations or those called upon to identify the origins of unknown hairs that they may encounter, for example in cultural heritage investigations or animal tracking studies. Although the hairs from Bradipus spp and Choloeps spp exhibit unusual morphology, the results obtained using both laboratory-based and synchrotron-sourced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry indicated that the keratin composition of their hairs did not differ greatly from each other or from that found in other mammals. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.en_AU
dc.description.sponsorshipThe s-FTIRM measurement was undertaken on the Infrared Microspectroscopy (IRM) beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, part of ANSTO, through the successful merit-based beamtime proposal (Proposal ID. M11945). The authors are extremely grateful to the Adelaide Zoo, Adelaide South Australia and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark for the provision of vouchered tree sloth hair samples.en_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumber100063en_AU
dc.identifier.citationTridico, S. R., Vongsvivut, J., & Kirkbride, K. P. (2023). Sloths: the unusual hairs from these shaggy heteroclites. Forensic Science International: Animals and Environments, 3, 100063. doi:10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100063en_AU
dc.identifier.issn2666-9374en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleForensic Science International: Animals and Environmentsen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15335en_AU
dc.identifier.volume3en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevieren_AU
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiae.2023.100063en_AU
dc.subjectMammalsen_AU
dc.subjectHairen_AU
dc.subjectMorphologyen_AU
dc.subjectImagesen_AU
dc.subjectScanning Electron microscopyen_AU
dc.subjectScanning Light microscopyen_AU
dc.subjectWild animalsen_AU
dc.titleSloths: the unusual hairs from these shaggy heteroclitesen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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