ALL ABOUT SLOTHS!

By: Saagar Parikh

What are sloths?Sloths medium are sized mammals that

belong to the families  Megalonychidae (two-toed sloth) and Bradypodidae (three-toed sloth). They are part of the order Pilosa and are therefore related to anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.  Extant sloths are arboreal (tree-dwelling), and are known for being slow-moving.

How many species of sloth are there?There are two main species of sloths, the

two-toed sloth, which are the largest type of sloth, and the three-toed sloth, which are slightly smaller. The three-toed sloth has three toes/fingers, and the two-toed sloth has only two toes/fingers.

Two-toed sloth Three-toed sloth

How fast are sloths?Sloths move only when necessary and even then

very slowly; they have about a quarter as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. They can move at a higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (4 m or 13 ft. per minute for the three-toed sloth), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so. Their specialized hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside down from branches without effort. While they sometimes sit on top of branches, they usually eat, sleep, and even give birth hanging from limbs.  On the ground, the maximum speed of the three-toed sloth is 2 m or 6.5 ft. per minute.

How long can sloths live and grow?Sloths can grow between 50-70 cm (20-27

in) long. Sloths can live roughly about 20-40 years. Like every mammal, an adult sloth gives birth to a baby sloth which clings on to its mother’s fur. Later when it grows older and older, it soon leaves its mother and starts its own life.

Baby Sloth

Adult Sloth

Other things you probably didn’t know about sloths

Sloths can swim.Sloths sometimes die upside-down hanging

in a tree.Sloths can lash out their claws to wound

their enemies.Sloths can stand upside- down in a tree.International Sloth Day is on October 20.

IndexWound: An injury to living tissue caused

by a cut, blow, or other impact, typically one in which the skin is cut or broken.

Mammal: A mammal is an animal that breathes air, has a backbone, and grows hair at some point during its life.

CreditsSpecial Thanks To:

Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaGoogle Chrome Images

Microsoft PowerPoint 2010Saagar Parikh

And Last But Not Least,

SLOTHS!