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A two-toed sloth's fur can turn green. Its hairs have grooves running along their length, and algae grow in them, helping camouflage the sloth in the treetops.

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A two-toed sloth's fur can turn green. Its hairs have grooves running along their length, and algae grow in them, helping camouflage the sloth in the treetops.ILLUSTRATION · AI

A two-toed sloth's hair has grooves where algae grow, turning the fur green, the Smithsonian's National Zoo says.

Two-toed sloths have a short, fine undercoat and an overcoat of longer, coarser hairs. In moist conditions those hairs turn green because of algae growing in grooves that run along each strand. A 2010 study in BMC Evolutionary Biology notes that two-toed sloth hair is unique in having a number of deep grooves running the length of each hair.

The greenish tint camouflages sloths in the forest canopy. Their fur also harbors moths, ticks and beetles.

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