18 January 2019 - INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE THREE TOED SLOTH

INTERESTING FACTS 

ABOUT  THE 

THREE TOED SLOTH

G'day folks,

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

The three-toed sloths are tree-living mammals from South and Central America. They are the only members of the genus Bradypus and the family Bradypodidae. The four living species of three-toed sloths are the brown-throated sloth, the maned sloth, the pale-throated sloth, and the pygmy three-toed sloth.

Quick Facts

• Type: Mammal
• Diet: Herbivore
• Lifespan: 25-30 years
• Size: 56-60cm
• Habitat: Tree dwelling in rain forest
• Range: South and Central America
• Scientific name: Bradypus

•  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.
• There are four living species of three-toed sloths; these are the brown-throated sloth, the maned sloth, the pale-throated sloth, and the pygmy three-toed sloth which was only recognised as a distinct species in 2001.
• The pygmy three-toed sloth can only be found on Isla Escudo de Veraguas which has been separated from mainland Panama for 9,000 years. The major threat to the pygmy three-toed sloth is habitat destruction which is reducing the size of its already small habitat.
• Being the world’s slowest mammal, the sloth travels at a top speed of 0.24 kilometres per hour (0.15 mph). They are so sedentary that algae grows on their furry coat.
• Sloths make a good habitat for other organisms, and a single sloth may be home to moths, beetles, cockroaches and fungi as well as algae.
• The three-toed sloth is arboreal (tree-dwelling), with a body adapted to hang by its limbs; the large curved claws help the sloth to keep a strong grip on tree branches. It lives high in the canopy but descends once a week to defecate on the forest floor.
• Sloths sleep in trees – some 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they often remain motionless.
• At night they eat leaves, shoots and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juicy plants.
• Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended from a branch
• Sloths will move between different trees up to four times a day, although they prefer to keep to a particular type of tree, which varies between individuals, perhaps as a means of allowing multiple sloths to occupy overlapping home ranges without competing with each other.
• Although they are quite slow in trees, three-toed sloths are agile swimmers.

• On land, sloths’ weak hind legs are not very powerful and their long claws are a hindrance. They cannot walk on all four limbs so they must use their front arms and claws to drag themselves across the rain forest floor.
• If caught on land, these animals have no chance to evade predators such as big cats and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting.
• In trees the sloth’s greenish color and its sluggish habits provide an effective camouflage; hanging quietly, the sloth resembles a bundle of leaves.
• The three-toed sloth, unlike most other mammals, does not fully maintain a constant body temperature, and this limits it to warm environments.
• Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in the trees. Females give birth to a single young after a gestation period of around six months.
• Three-toed sloth babies are often seen clinging to their mothers — they travel by hanging on to them for the first nine months of their lives.
• Once sloth babies are weaned, the mother leaves her home territory to her offspring and moves elsewhere.
• Adults are solitary, and mark their territories using anal scent glands and dung middens.
• Sloths have extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.
• Extinct sloth species include many ground sloths, some of which were as big as elephants.

 

Clancy's comment: Charming face, eh?

I'm ...