| dc.date | 2021-06-01 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-09-25T14:37:11Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-09-25T14:37:11Z | |
| dc.identifier | http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1659-42662021000100015 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repositorioslatinoamericanos.uchile.cl/handle/2250/8823252 | |
| dc.description | ABSTRACT. Introduction: Sloths are arboreal mammals that defecate on the ground, increasing the risk of predation. There are several hypotheses that try to explain why they undergo this risk. Objective: To critically review all the hypotheses and to propose a new hypothesis that is compatible with all known data. Methods: I verified the assumptions and implications of five hypotheses against the literature available February, 2021. Results: Previous hypotheses either lack reliable supporting data, or are contradicted by published data. Here I propose that defecation on the ground is an ancestral behavior that persists in all sloth species because there has not been enough natural selection against it. Conclusions: Current knowledge of sloth biology is compatible with the hypothesis that there has not been enough selective pressure for sloths to abandon defecation on the ground. | |
| dc.format | text/html | |
| dc.language | en | |
| dc.publisher | Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica | |
| dc.relation | 10.22458/urj.v13i1.3438 | |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | |
| dc.source | Cuadernos de Investigación UNED v.13 n.1 2021 | |
| dc.subject | Evolution of sloth behavior | |
| dc.subject | natural selection and defecation | |
| dc.subject | algae | |
| dc.subject | mutualism | |
| dc.subject | moths | |
| dc.subject | arboreal mammal evolution | |
| dc.title | Why sloths defecate on the ground: rejection of the mutualistic model | |
| dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/article | |
