The rainforests of South America are home to many sloths (Aspen-Baxter, 2007). They are also found in some parts of Central America too (Steele, 2002). There are two distinct types of sloths; two-toed and three-toed (M.V. Verdi, April 4, 2012). These two groups can be divided even more into six individual species that are currently alive today; the various species live in various locations, which is why the area in which sloths can be found is so large. Even though there are these differences among sloths, some details are shared between them all. Almost all sloths spend the majority of their lives hanging upside down from trees (as can be seen in the above pictures); because sloths spend so much time in this position, their hair grows from belly to back, opposite of almost all other mammals (Johnson, 1994). Sloths spend so much time in the trees that they have developed very successful techniques for holding themselves upside down in various situations. It has been reported that some sloths have such a tight grip on the tree branches that it takes a few days after the sloth has died before it will even fal out of the tree (Hughes, 1999). While in the trees, sloths are very slow moving animals algae grow in their fur - giving a greenish color to the fur; the algae benefits the sloth by helping it blend in to its surroundings (M. V. Verdi, personal communication, April 4, 2012) . This algae most likely provides nutrients to the 900 different species of moths, beetles, and insects that make a home in the sloth's fur (Steele, 2002). It has been said that a sloth's fur is basically provides everything that a ecosystem would require ("A Sloth and a Moth", 1976).
Sloths only have one offspring each year; this offspring is typically born during the rainy season because there is more food available to both mother and infant (Steele, 2002). There is no evidence that males have any parental responsibilities during the dependent stage of the offspring, which is much shorter that human dependency (Bullinger, 2009).
There are some oddities about sloths that many people may not know. Beacuse sloths are mammals, it may surprise many people to find out that in order to save energy sloths allow their body temperature to fluctuate depending on the weather at the time (Steele, 2002). Based on pictures and knowledge that sloths spend so much time in trees may lead people to believe that the sloth is related to monkeys, but in actuality the sloth is much more closely related to the anteater and armadillo (Hughes, 1999). Finally, although all six species are considered sloths, they are not all closely related. The two-toed sloths belong to an entirely different family than three-toed sloths. This difference means that there should be very little similarities between them.
This is a comparison chart as to the average weight and length of the Three-Toed Sloth to the Two-Toed Sloth |  |
