SLOTHS!!BY MACKENZIE HOEKMAN

WHAT IS A SLOTH?

• Sloths are medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae (two-toed sloth) and Bradypodidae (three-toed sloth), classified into six species. 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) residents of the jungles of Central and South America, and are known for being slow-moving, and hence named "sloths". Extinct sloth species include many ground sloths, some of which attained the size of elephants.

• Sloths make a good habitat for other organisms, and a single sloth may be home to moths, beetles, cockroaches, ciliates, fungi, and algae.

WHERE DOES THE SLOTH LIVE?

SLOTH HABITAT

• The are found most commonly in the rainforest canopies of Central and South America.• They live in the jungle; not the desert. • They live in trees; not on the ground. • Their surroundings are mostly green, so they have had to

learn to adapt. • They swim in water to eat and cool off.

ANIMAL LIFE CYCLE

The female sloth is an adult when she is 3 and the male is when he is 4-5 years old. The baby stays inside the moms tummy for 6 moths. When the baby is born its really slow.

WHAT DOES A SLOTH EAT?

Sloths eat manly leaves, fruits and vegetables. Leaves are their main diet substitute, but contain very little calories for energy.

INHERITED TRAITS

One inherited trait is their slowness. Another inherited trait is claws. Sloths have two extra vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads almost all the way around.

ADAPTATIONS Sloths get water from the food they eat. The alge that grows on them helps them blend in. If a sloth gets caught by a presider it starts hissing, slashing and shrieking. Sloths are clumsy on land but are vary good swimmers so they can get away from presiders. Sloths move slow so they use less energy because the leaves they eat don’t give a lot of nutrition.

HOW DO SLOTHS HELP THE ENVIRONMENT & HUMANS?

Individual sloths tend to spend the bulk of their time feeding on a single tree; by burying their excreta near the trunk of that tree this may help nourish it. Their nourishing makes the tree grow stronger and it gives us more oxygen.

INTERESTING FACTS…

An ancient relative of today’s sloth, the giant ground sloth, grew as big as an elephant. Two-toed sloth do well in captivity, three-toed sloth do not. There are five sloth sub-species. Two-toed sloth can live more than 20 years in captivity.

QUESTIONS TO FIND OUT MORE!

• I want to know:• How old is the oldest sloth? It would be really

cool to know!• Why do sloth’s only live in South America? I

would love to see one in its natural habitat.

CITATIONS:

• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/sloths/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth

• Google Images