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Three-toed sloths are about the size of a small dog or a large cat, with the head and body having a combined length of around 45 cm (18 in) and a weight of 3.5–4.5 kg (8–10 lb). Unlike the two-toed sloths, they also have short tails of 6–7 cm (2–3 in), and they have three clawed toes on each limb.
Three-toed sloths are some of the slowest and seemingly laziest creatures in the world. Instead of evolving to eat more, they evolved to do less.
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- Nature on PBS
- Life in the Trees. All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws.
- Life on Land. On land, sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance. They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground.
- Characteristics. The three-toed sloth emits a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests as “ahh-eeee.” Because of this cry these sloths are sometimes called ais (pronounced “eyes”).
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.
Aug 17, 2024 · Learn about the three-toed sloth, a tree-dwelling mammal with a smiling face and a slow lifestyle. Find out its habitat, diet, behavior, and classification in this article from Britannica.
- Sloths are mammals. They are part of the order Pilosa, which is also home to anteaters. Together with armadillos, sloths and anteaters form the mag...
- A total of five species of sloths exist: the pygmy three-toed sloth, the maned sloth, the pale-throated three-toed sloth, the brown-throated three-...
- Sloths live in the lowland tropical areas of South and Central America. They spend most of their life in the forest canopy. Two-toed sloths tend to...
- Sloths are omnivores. Because they spend most of their time in trees, they like to munch on leaves, twigs, flowers, and other foliage, though some...
- Sloths are slow because of their diet and metabolic rate. They eat a low-calorie diet consisting exclusively of plants, and they metabolize at a ra...
Learn about the three-toed sloth, one of the six species of sloths that live in Central and South American rain forests. Find out why they matter, what threats they face, and how WWF is working to protect them.
B. variegatus (brown throated three-toed sloth) can be found from Honduras to northern Argentina and B.torquatus (the maned sloth) inhabits the small Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil. Other species are restricted to more specific regions, like the Bradypus pygmaeus which is home to the Isla Escudo de Veraguas, a small Caribbean island off ...
