The sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) is a mammal popular for its extreme slowness. It lives mainly in the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, where there are a large number of trees where it remains resting and feeding for days without any problem.
The sloth is still an enigmatic and unique animal, because even its appearance is intriguing. Do you want to know some sloth curiosities? Then you can't miss this article!
1. It is covered with algae
The Bradypus tridactylus has a grayish-green coat that cannot be said to be its own, since a kind of algae lives between its strands that gives it this color; thanks to the effect of these algae, the sloth is able to camouflage itself among the leaves
This animal's upper limbs are longer than its lower limbs and it has three toes on each foot. Thanks to these fingers, it can cling tightly to the branches of the trees where it lives.
two. Fight to gain attention from females
Despite their slowness, sloths find a mate very quickly when they want to. As part of the mating ritual, the males fight each other to win the love of the females. They observe the entire ritual and, when they consider that one of the males has won, they let him know by making a chirping noise.
The rest of the reproductive phase takes place entirely in tree branches, from mating to giving birth. Sloths have one baby a year.
3. He is an excellent swimmer
Although the sloth is a slow animal, it is very agile to move between the trees, a task that it does thanks to its limbs. However, his lower legs make it difficult for him to walk due to his short size, but they make up for this with his great swimming ability
Thanks to this slowness that makes them so curious, there is a belief that the sloth sleeps more than 20 hours a day, but nothing is further from reality: it only sleeps about 10 hours a day, because the The rest of the time is dedicated to finding food or a mate.
4. It's especially slow
Maybe you have ever wondered… Why is the sloth so slow? Suffice to say that sometimes this animal moves so slowly that it has the appearance of standing still, can you imagine something like that? The truth is that it travels an average of two meters per minute when on the ground
If we talk about the movement in the branches of the trees, the slowness is even greater, since it can move about three meters per minute. Too slow!
5. His diet is based on leaves
Did you know that the slowness of this animal is mainly due to the feeding of the sloth bear? That's how it is! The diet of sloths is not very varied, since they are folivores, which means that they only feed on the leaves of trees.
After you ingest the leaves, your digestive system helps to fully process them. Why do they influence its slowness? Well, because leaves are very low in calories and sloths must save their energy, so they move slowly.
6. They only urinate and defecate once a week
Like most living things, the sloth has a number of predators. These are wild cats, such as jaguars and tigrillos, who climb very easily to the branches of the trees. Also, eagles and snakes join the threats that stalk the sloth.
As if that were not enough, sloths should never move on dry land, since on the ground they become easy prey for any predator because of its slowness. It has been shown that they spend most of their lives perched on tree branches, not only because of how easy it is to get around in this way, but also because that is where they safely get their food while staying away from many. predators.
Once a week they descend from the branches to defecate and urinate. After doing so, they take care of burying everything to hide their smell.
7. They are in danger of extinction
Unfortunately, the different species of sloths that exist worldwide are in danger of extinction, each one in different ranges of danger. This threat that lies in wait for them is mainly due to the destruction of their habitat as a result of deforestation
It is also in danger due to poaching for the consumption of its meat and the use of its skins in the manufacture of various products.
