The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so algae grows on its furry coat.

The plant gives it a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees

of its Central and South American rain forest home.

Sloths are identified by the number of long, prominent claws that

they have on each front foot. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths.

All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time hanging from branches with a

powerful grip aided by their long claws.

Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep About 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they

often remain motionless, and two-toed sloths are generally silent. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get

almost all of their water from juicy plants.

The living sloths belong to one of two families, known as the Megalonychidae ("two-toed" sloths)

and the Bradypodidae (three-toed sloths).

Whether these ground-dwelling two toed slothwere descended from tree-climbing ancestors or whether the two-toed sloths are really miniature

ground sloths converted, cannot presently be determined to satisfaction.

The latter possibility seems slightly more likely, given the fact that the small ground sloths Acratocnus

and Synocnus which were also able to climb are among the closer relatives of the two-toed sloths, and that these

together were related to the huge ground sloths Megalonyx and Megalocnus.

The evolutionary history of the three-toed sloths Is not at all well-known. No particularly close relatives,

ground-dwelling or not, have yet been identified.

Type: MammalDiet: Omnivore

Size: 60 to 70 cmWeight: 8 kg

Size relative to a 2 m man:

Though they couldn't be clumsier on land, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers. They sometimes fall directly

from rain forest trees into rivers and stroke efficiently with their long arms.

Two-toed sloths are slightly larger than their three-toed relatives. They are able to survive in

captivity, while three-toed sloths are not.

The famous Megatheriam for example belonged to a lineage of ground sloths that was not

very close to the living sloths and their ground-living relatives like the small Synocnus or the massive Megalonyx.

Meanwhile, mylodon among the last ground sloths to disappear,

was only very distantly related to either of these.sloths are really very cute.

Type: MammalDiet: Omnivore

Size: 58 cmWeight: 4 kg

Protection status: EndangeredSize relative to a 2 m man:

The three-toed sloth emits a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests as "ahh-eeee."

Because of this cry these sloths are sometimes called ais

Three-toed sloths also have an advantage that few other mammals possess: They have extra neck vertebrae

that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.

My Picture Of A Sloth

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