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culiyesterday at 10:49 PM2 repliesview on HN

The fact that an estimated 50% to 90% of forest terrestrial life exists in the canopy lives rent free in my head. I get bothered when people write off sloths the way they write off pandas. They clearly have an extremely intricate relationship with this barely understood world above our heads

If you learned about the human microbiome and that we (sometimes) have more germs in our bodies than our own cells—you probably got a strong feeling that this must be an extremely important aspect of our biology that has largely gone unconsidered. Well imagine if you literally grew algae, fungi, bacteria, and even MOTHS on your fur

Ecological adaptations that cross the boundary between the macro- and micro- animal world have been a big blindspot for western science and I'm excited to see more attention and effort finally allotted to these parts of nature


Replies

jpt4yesterday at 11:12 PM

> a big blindspot for western science

Which scientific tradition ought one consult where this subject has been foregrounded?

thaumasiotestoday at 12:19 AM

> The fact that an estimated 50% to 90% of forest terrestrial life exists in the canopy lives rent free in my head.

It's the same reason most sea life is concentrated near the air.

> Well imagine if you literally grew algae, fungi, bacteria, and even MOTHS on your fur

You do literally grow bacteria on your fur. You're doing it right now.