Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth

Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth, Bradypus variegatus

The brown-throated three-toed sloth is one of only four species of three-toed sloth, and one of the only two three-toed sloths that are not endangered. They weighing between 2.25 to 6.20 kg (4.96 to 13.7 lbs) and have a body length between 413 to 700 mm (16.3 to 27.6 in). Their forelimbs are longer than the hind limbs As they spend the majority of their time in the trees, their grip is strong and their three digits have long, curved claws. Compared to the rest of the body, the head is smaller and the tail stumpy. The coarse, thick fur has longitudinally grooved strands to allow for green algae to grow which provides as camouflage. Other organisms found within the grooves of sloth fur include cyanobacteria and diatoms while moths, beetles, cockroaches, and nematode roundworms have been found in other parts of their fur. Male brown-throated three-toed sloths have an orange-yellow patch with a brown stripe through the middle between the shoulders. Unlike most mammals, sloths have nine cervical vertebrae instead of seven allow greater mobility of the head. They are active during both the day and the night, but sleep the majority of the time.

Leno the Sloth of the Dallas World Aquarium.

Sloths are a neotropical animal that live and flourish on a steady diet of tree leaves, shoots, and fruit. Often a sloth will remain within a tree for days and may have a preferred tree. With a difficult to process diet full of tough cellulose and potential toxins, their digestive system is slow. The large fluctuations of their body temperature can also hinder digestion which causes sloths to practice thermoregulation similar to reptiles. Due to such slow digestion, it may take several days or more for food to pass through the gut of a sloth, and waste eliminate averages once a week or less. Still, sloths are adapted for the diet of foliage with the stomach containing complex pouches that separate batches of food in different stages of digestion. Sloths have also been observed to specify which foliage to consume with pregnant females seen choosing the easier to digest Lacmellea panamensis when possible. They will also choose spots to sleep where they can bask to aid in digestion, but without getting too overheated.