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Three Toed Sloth
Three Toed Sloth
Scientific Name:
Bradypus
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Three Toed Sloth
Facts
- Sloths are the slowest mammals on Earth, moving only about 40 yards per day and reaching top speeds of just 0.15 mph
- They spend 15-20 hours per day sleeping while hanging upside down from tree branches
- Sloths only come down from trees about once a week to poop, and they always use the same spot at the base of their tree
- Green algae grows in their fur, which helps camouflage them and provides nutrients they can lick off
- Sloths are excellent swimmers and can move three times faster in water than on land
- Their metabolism is so slow that it can take up to 30 days to digest a single meal
- Baby sloths cling to their mother's belly for the first 6-9 months of life and learn which trees are safe to eat from
Where do they live?
Sloths live exclusively in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico down through Brazil and northern Argentina. Different species occupy different regions - three-toed sloths are found throughout Central America and much of South America, while two-toed sloths have a similar but slightly more restricted range. They're found in countries including Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia. Sloths spend almost their entire lives in the rainforest canopy and rarely come down to the ground except for bathroom trips. They prefer areas with dense tree cover where they can move from tree to tree.
What do they eat?
Sloths are herbivores that primarily eat leaves, though they'll also munch on twigs, buds, and occasionally fruit. Their diet mainly consists of leaves from cecropia trees, though they eat from many different tree species in the rainforest. Sloths have a multi-chambered stomach similar to cows, filled with special bacteria that help break down the tough, fibrous leaves. Because leaves provide very little energy and nutrients, sloths have evolved to move slowly and conserve energy. They're very picky eaters and each individual sloth learns which specific trees are safe to eat from by watching their mother. A sloth's slow metabolism means they only need to eat small amounts - typically just a few handfuls of leaves per day.
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Learn More!
Sloths are unusual mammals famous for being the slowest-moving creatures on Earth and spending nearly their entire lives hanging upside down in trees. There are six living species divided into two groups: three-toed sloths (genus Bradypus) and two-toed sloths (genus Choloepus). Three-toed sloths are slightly smaller, weighing 8-10 pounds and measuring about 23 inches long, while two-toed sloths weigh 12-20 pounds and reach up to 28 inches. Despite their names, both types actually have three toes on their back feet - the difference is in their front feet, where three-toed sloths have three claws and two-toed sloths have two. Their long, curved claws (up to 4 inches long) are perfectly designed for gripping branches, and their shaggy fur grows in the opposite direction of most mammals - from belly to back - so rain runs off when they hang upside down.
Sloths have evolved an incredibly unique lifestyle centered around extreme energy conservation. Their slow movement and low metabolic rate help them survive on a diet of nutrient-poor leaves that would starve most other animals. Everything about sloths is slow - they blink slowly, turn their heads slowly, and even their heart rate is slow (40-50 beats per minute compared to 60-100 in humans). This slowness is actually brilliant camouflage because predators like harpy eagles and jaguars detect movement, and sloths are so still they're nearly invisible. Female sloths give birth to a single baby after a 6-month pregnancy. The baby is born with its eyes open and immediately clings to its mother's belly, where it will stay for months while learning to identify safe trees and developing the gut bacteria needed to digest leaves.
Different sloth species face different levels of threat. Some, like the brown-throated three-toed sloth, have stable populations and are considered of least concern. However, others face serious danger - the pygmy three-toed sloth, found only on a tiny island off Panama, is critically endangered with fewer than 100 individuals remaining. The main threat to all sloths is habitat loss from deforestation for agriculture, logging, and development. When rainforests are cut down, sloths lose both their food source and their home, and they cannot travel long distances to find new habitat. Climate change also poses risks as temperature changes could affect the trees sloths depend on. Conservation efforts focus on protecting rainforest habitat, creating wildlife corridors so sloths can move between forest fragments, and rescuing injured sloths hit by cars or power lines.
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