Linn's Sloth
Two-toed sloth
Scientific name- Choloepus didactylus
Classification:
Kingdom-Animilia
Phylum-Chordata
Class-Mammalia
Family-Bradypodidae
Diet
The Linn's sloth is an omnivore. It eats leaves, bark, buds, and fruit. Sometimes they eat small animals like mice, squirrel and kangaroo rats.
Anatomy
Sloths usually have a thick brown and slightly greenish fur coat. They are usually roughly about 2 feet. They have a short, flat head, short snout, big eyes, long legs, tiny ears and short or non existent tail. They also have sturdy curved claws which they use to hang from trees.
Alge tends to grow on their fur too, because of how slow they are, but that alge gives them nutrients they need and they also eat the alge from their fur.
Adaptations
- Sloths have very large, specialized, slow acting stomachs with multiple compartments so that symbiotic bacteria can break down the tough leaves, because they do not digest easily.
- Sloths claws are their only defense. They use them to hang from the trees with using no effort or energy and they use them to scare or wound their attacker.
- They also move slowly to save more energy instead of wasting it and to keep themselves cool from their hot, muggy climate.
- Reinforced lumbar vertebrae make it possible for their upside down lifestyle.
Threats to Survival
- Habitat loss, due to agriculture, ranching and logging.
- Hunting or illegal trade in the wildlife
- Being hit by cars, they crawl slowly across roadways
- Also sloths are commonly hunted by jaguars and harpy eagles
Life Cycle/Reproduction
Life Cycle:
Sloths can usually live 10-20 years in the wild and over 30 years in a zoo
Reproduction:
Female sloths usually produce one baby each year, but sometimes they don't because it may take them over a year to find a mate
The pregnancy period is about 10 months
The interval period between births is about 14-16 months
They also give birth hanging upside down from a tree branch
Interesting Facts
- Sloths can sleep up to 18 hours a day
- Baby sloths hang onto thier mother until they can take care of themselves, some fall off and can die because the mother does not want to retrieve them
- Sloths can swim very well (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vXjSYRp-kkM)
- They can go days without eating