Linne's two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus
A slow tree hanger.
The two-toed sloth lives in the tropical rainforests of South America. It spends almost its entire life upside down in trees, where it moves slowly and lives off leaves.
The two-toed sloth in a nutshell
- eats
- leaves, fruits, twigs
- inhabits
- South America
- excels at
- saving energy
Upside down and living slowly
Sloths do almost everything upside down: eat, sleep, move, and even have young. A distinctive feature of the two-toed sloth is its fur, which grows from belly to back instead of the other way around. This slow tree-hugger gets its name from the two hook-shaped fingers on each front leg, and three toes on each hind leg. They are known as the slowest animals on earth. The two-fingered sloth is mostly active at night and sleeps up to 15 hours a day. Despite their slow movements, they are surprisingly good swimmers, their streamlined bodies allowing them to move easily through the water.
Slow metabolism
The two-toed sloth lives on hard-to-digest food such as leaves. Consequently, digestion takes about a month. Their metabolism is exceptionally slow: 34-56% slower than in comparable mammals. Their body temperature is also low and variable: between 24 and 33°C. Because they do not keep their body temperature constant, they conserve energy.
Algae cycle
The sloth's fur gets a green tint from algae growing in it. They live in trees but come down to defecate about once a week. Sometimes poo sticks to their fur. This attracts moths, which lay eggs there. The young moths grow up in the sloth's fur. They defecate there, die there, and decay in the fur. Together with rainwater and other debris, this forms a fine place for bacteria and algae. These algae not only give the sloth a green hue, but also provide essential nutrients that help replenish what they lack in their diet of leaves.
