Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth

 

The brown-throated three-toed sloth is a truly unique animal that inhabits the rainforest canopies of Central and South America. The term sloth is synonymous with the word slow, and sloths certainly live up to that definition.

Sloths evolved to expend very little energy because their diet does not provide them with a lot of calories and nutrition. Brown-throated sloths primarily eat tough, rubbery rainforest leaves.

Their stomachs are multi-chambered, similar to a cow’s stomach, and house a mix of bacteria which helps to slowly break down the leaves. It takes two weeks for a sloth to digest one meal — the slowest digestion time of any mammal!

Sloths are specially adapted to live among the treetops. Their fur hangs upside down, running from their stomachs to their backs. This is because sloths themselves usually hang upside down. The orientation of their fur helps the rain water flow away from their body.

In addition, sloths have large curved claws to help them effortlessly grasp branches and vines, and hang comfortably while they eat and sleep. Brown-throated three-toed sloths have three toes and three claws per foot.

Brown-throated sloths have the ability to rotate their heads like owls. They can turn their heads up to 300 degrees due to their unique neck structure. They have nine cervical vertebrae, as opposed to the seven that most mammals have. This allows for greater rotation, which helps the sloth scan for predators like spectacled owls, harpy eagles and snakes.

Once a week, brown-throated three-toed sloths descend from the rainforest canopy to urinate and defecate. Although their large curved claws help them immensely in the treetops, they make traveling on the ground very difficult. Sloths crawl very awkwardly and slowly on the ground, making them easy targets for predators like ocelots.