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Sloths

Folivora

Sloths are slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammals of the Neotropics in the order Pilosa (the same order that includes anteaters). Living sloths comprise six species in two genera: two-fingered sloths (Choloepus, family Choloepodidae) and three-fingered sloths (Bradypus, family Bradypodidae). The common “two‑toed/three‑toed” labels are a bit misleading: all sloths have three toes, but they differ in the number of digits on the forelimbs. Modern sloths live in tropical forests of Central and South America and have some of the slowest metabolisms among mammals. Their extinct relatives were much more diverse, including giant ground sloths such as Megatherium (roughly elephant-sized) and an aquatic lineage (Thalassocnus) that lived along the Pacific coast of South America millions of years ago. Sloth fur can also host a “mobile ecosystem” of epibionts such as algae, fungi, and arthropods.

Sloths are slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammals of the Neotropics in the order Pilosa (the same order that includes anteaters). Living sloths comprise six species in two genera: two-fingered sloths (Choloepus, family Choloepodidae) and three-fingered sloths (Bradypus, family Bradypodidae). The common “two‑toed/three‑toed” labels are a bit misleading: all sloths have three toes, but they differ in the number of digits on the forelimbs. Modern sloths live in tropical forests of Central and South America and have some of the slowest metabolisms among mammals. Their extinct relatives were much more diverse, including giant ground sloths such as Megatherium (roughly elephant-sized) and an aquatic lineage (Thalassocnus) that lived along the Pacific coast of South America millions of years ago. Sloth fur can also host a “mobile ecosystem” of epibionts such as algae, fungi, and arthropods.