Seeing as though sloths spend the majority of their life in trees, their

muscles/limbs have grown to adapt to tree

life. In some cases after a sloth dies, they are still hanging from the tree as their grip is incredibly strong

Sloths obtain an incredibly slow

metabolism therefore they require little food (herbivore diet) , this

generally is:

• Fruit• Leaves• Buds• Young twigs

• The average sloth is generally the size of a small dog, small flat head, long claws (nails) and grey- brown fur.

• Said fur sometimes appears grey- green as they move at slow speeds allowing camouflaging algae to grow upon their coats.

• 58 cm• 4 kg

• Sloths are mammals living in the wild sleep just over 9 ½ hours a day contrary to sloths living in caged environments that sleeps on average 15- 20 hours daily.

• Their small diet needs them to use the bathroom just once a week- good because they move very slowly and could be killed if they went down from their tree too often.

• Sloths are generally upside down and as such their fur as grown in a way which supports the ecosystem living within it (“symbiotic algae”).

Sloths are nocturnal animals that sleep with their head between

their arms allowing then to blend into the tree- for protection from predators. Sloths are thought to be sedentary animals as even

awake the hardly move. Sloths are made to lie in trees as on land

their weak hind legs and long claws force them to dig their

claws into the ground and drag themselves along. Sloths are good swimmers because their

long arms allow them to capably move throughout the water.

• Sloths are sometimes called ais (pronounced eyes) due to the “long, high- pitched” cry they can produce.

• Sloths obtain an additional neck vertebrae which allows them to turn their heads up to 270 degrees.

• Sloths can live up to 30 years

• Sloths are found in the canopies of the Central and South American rainforests