Life in Slow Motion: the Three-Toed Sloth

Common Name: Three-Toed Sloth

A.K.A.: Genus Bradypus

Vital Stats:

• There are four species of three-toed sloth: brown-throated, pale-throated, maned, and pygmy
• Critically endangered pygmy sloths are thought to number only around 300
• Average body length of around 45cm (18”)
• Two-toed sloths have a similar arboreal lifestyle, but belong to a different family entirely

Found: Rainforests of Central and northern South America

It Does What?!

Evolution, we’re sometimes led to believe, is an ongoing pressure to produce the fastest, strongest, and most cunning creatures possible, in an effort to improve each species’ fitness in its environment. But what if a niche existed in which being well-adapted simply meant holding very still and taking it easy?

Oh, to be a sloth.

Three-toed sloths are small-dog-sized mammals which live in the rainforest canopy and survive on a diet of leaves. Rather than sitting atop the branches and risking a fall if they lose their balance, sloths use their large claws to cling to branches from below, even sleeping in this position. Leaves aren’t exactly the most nutritious food, calorie-wise, so they conserve energy by moving  v e r y   s l o w l y,  reaching top speeds of around 240m (787’) per hour. Over the course of an entire day, this works out to only 3 or 4 different trees, at most. And this is in their natural environment of the canopy; on the ground, sloths are practically helpless. Unable to even stand due to their minimal musculature, they must simply pull themselves along the earth if a break in the canopy necessitates a ground crossing. [Check out this video of a sloth crossing a road in Costa Rica with the help of some protective humans… your heart will break for the poor thing.]

This same natural… well, sloth, is what helps them to avoid their main predators, which include jaguars, anacondas, and birds of prey. Hanging motionless upside down, sloths can appear to be just another bunch of leaves. Aiding this illusion is the fact that many sloths are, in fact, somewhat green. This is due to a thin layer of algae which grows over their fur, each hair of which is specially shaped to encourage microbe growth. And the algae aren’t the only ones treating sloths as if they were inanimate objects; a species of moth known as the “sloth moth” also lives in their fur, while a small bird, the yellow-headed caracara, forages for its food there. Basically, other animals consider these guys to be just another piece of the landscape.

The energy-saving ways of the sloth really can’t be overstated- they don’t even maintain a normal mammalian body temperature, but one several degrees lower, necessitating a lot of basking in warm places to keep them comfortable. And the insides don’t go any faster than the outside; sloths only go to the bathroom around once per week, laboriously making their way down to ground level to use a special pit they’ve dug for themselves there. [Here’s another great video of Sir David Attenborough telling us about sloth toilet habits.]

But surely the pace of things picks up a bit when it’s time to make baby sloths, right? Apparently not. Reports by researchers indicate that mating in sloths involves about twenty minutes of hanging nearly motionless in a tree together, followed by several days of hanging out a few metres apart, doing nothing and probably avoiding eye contact, before both decide it’s time to take off. Baby sloths are born singly, or occasionally as twins, and spend the first nine months of their life clinging to their mothers’ front, first nursing, and then licking chewed leaves from her mouth, before finally setting out on their own.

And that’s pretty much the life of a sloth. With a lifespan as long as thirty years, it’s a good thing they don’t get bored. Or maybe they do… giving us the answer to the question, ‘Why did the sloth cross the road?’

[Fun Fact: With nine cervical vertebrae, compared to only seven in most mammals, sloths have a huge amount of flexibility in their necks, with a rotation similar to that of owls.]

Says Who?

• Bezerra et al. (2008) Journal of Ethology 26: 175-178
• Dias et al. (2009) Journal of Ethology 27: 97-103
• Raines (2005) Zoo Biology 24: 557-568
• Taube et al. (2001) Mammal Review 31(3):173-188