![]() To help three-toed sloths, you can help protect their habitat. These infants usually do not survive long. Sloths are also sold as pets on the black market to tourists.The poachers take baby sloths from their mothers and cut off their teeth and claws. They are forced out of the trees in search of new territory, often getting hit by cars when they cross roads. Due to deforestation and development, sloths are losing critical habitat. The brown-throated sloth is classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN because it has a wide distribution in the Amazon forest.īut the sloth faces many ongoing threats. This helps prepare the baby for life hanging in the treetops. The baby sloth spends 5-10 months attached to its mother, using her body like a jungle gym. ![]() Female sloths give birth to one infant at a time. The mating season for brown-throated sloths is in the spring, which is July-November in South America and February-May in Central America. Alpha males have a larger patches than other males. This patch has scent marking glands that attracts female sloths. Male brown-throated three-toed sloths can be easily distinguished from females because they have a bright orange patch with a black stripe on their backs. In this way, sloths are similar to reptiles. With such a slow metabolism, sloths must sunbathe in order to keep their body temperature up. In this way, a complete ecosystem thrives between the sloth and the organisms living in its fur.Īnother unique trait of sloths is that they rely on solar energy to regulate their body temperature. In addition, the moths have a chance to lay their eggs in the sloth’s dung. When sloths descend from the canopy, they come in contact with the beneficial fungal spores in the soil. The moths provide fertilizer for the algae. The fungi helps fend off parasites known to cause diseases like malaria and Chagas disease. The algae provides supplemental nutrition for the sloth and tints the fur green, which helps camouflage the sloth among the leaves. While these organisms benefit from having a sheltered place to live among the long coarse hairs, the sloth also gains from the relationship. Sloth fur is rife with macro- and microorganisms like algae, fungi and moths. Sloths crawl very awkwardly and slowly on the ground, making them easy targets for predators like ocelots.īut sloths take the risk to climb down to the ground because of a symbiotic relationship they have with the flora living in their fur. Although their large curved claws help them immensely in the treetops, they make traveling on the ground very difficult. Once a week, brown-throated three-toed sloths descend from the rainforest canopy to urinate and defecate. This allows for greater rotation, which helps the sloth scan for predators like spectacled owls, harpy eagles and snakes. They have nine cervical vertebrae (the bones in the spine that support the head), as opposed to the seven that most mammals have. They can turn their heads up to 300 degrees due to their unique neck structure. But interestingly, even two-toed sloths have three toes per foot! The difference is that they only have two claws on each.īrown-throated sloths have the ability to rotate their heads like owls. Brown-throated three-toed sloths, as you may have guessed, have three toes and three claws per foot. In addition, sloths have large curved claws to help them effortlessly grasp branches and vines, and hang comfortably while they eat and sleep. The orientation of their fur helps the rain water flow away from their body. This is because sloths themselves usually hang upside down. Their fur hangs upside down, running from their stomachs to their backs. Sloths are specially adapted to live among the treetops. It takes two weeks for a sloth to digest one meal - the slowest digestion time of any mammal! 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. But sloths have developed a digestive system to handle these highly indigestible leaves. These leaves are also full of toxins (a form of protection for the rainforest trees). Brown-throated sloths primarily eat tough, rubbery rainforest leaves. Sloths evolved to expend very little energy because their diet does not provide them with a lot of calories and nutrition. The term sloth is synonymous with the word slow, and sloths certainly live up to that definition. The brown-throated three-toed sloth is a truly unique animal that inhabits the rainforest canopies of Central and South America.
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