Notes

Sloths are adorable, slow-moving mammals native to Central and South America. They are solitary mammals and just so happen to provide a habitat for a multitude of other organisms. For instance, did you know a single sloth may be home to moths, beetles, cockroaches, fungi, and algae? Sloths can be very clumsy but it turns out , from a study in 2015 most sloths can swim at the age of one . All sloths are arboreal which means they spend most of their time in trees . According to a study in 2003 , sloths sleep a rough 10 hours a day . Due to having a diet of only leaves the sloth has minimal energy and nutrition . Sloths can have a lifespan of up to 40 years due to their sometimes even 4 inch long stable claws . for this their claws even hold up when they are dead and they still hang from trees . There are two categories of sloths. The two-toed sloth is slightly bigger than the three-toed sloth, though they share many of the same features. They are about the size of a medium-sized dog at around 23 to 27 inches (58 to 68 cm) and 17.5 to 18.75 pounds (about 8 kilograms).Though their ancestors lived in North America, modern sloths live in Central and South America, enjoying the tall trees found in rain and cloud forests. Sloths prefer sleeping while curled into a ball in the fork of a tropical tree. They also like to sleep hanging by their claws from tree branches. For the most part, a sloth's life revolves around sleeping and eating in their tree homes. The only times these mammals leave their tree is to use the bathroom and to take a swim. The word "sloth" means "inclined to laziness and inaction", and the amazingly placid and extremely slow moving sloth would certainly appear to live up to its name. Sloths have round face, sad eyes, small ears and short tail. Their body is covered with wiry fur.