Three-toed sloths descend from the trees once a week to defecate , providing a breeding ground for moths that live in the animals’ fur and nourishing gardens of algae that supplement the sloths’ diet, new research finds.
The next thing we wondered was; why do sloths come down from trees?
Our answer is pooping is really the only reason for a sloth to ever leave its tree, and it’s the only time they have to stand upright. According to Cliffe, once sloths make their way down from their trees, they do a ‘poo dance ‘ to dig a small hole to go in.
The most frequent answer is; Sloths are anatomically designed to fall out of trees. On average, a sloth will fall out of a tree once a week for its entire life. But don’t worry, all sloths are anatomically designed to fall and survive .
How do sloths adapt to their environment?
Sloths, known in Spanish as los perezosos (“the lazies”), have evolved adaptations to the constraints of life in the trees . Two-toed sloths have relatively large home ranges and consume a varied diet of animal matter, fruit and leaves. By contrast, three-toed sloths have much more limited ranges, and eat only leaves.
Fungi in the sloths’ environment may be decomposing dead moths, fostering the growth of algae. Or, the moths may be directly transferring nutrients from the sloth dung to their fur , where algae can grow .
Another inquiry we ran across in our research was “What habitat do sloths live in?”.
You see, sloths are arboreal creatures, which means that they live, work and play high up in the trees. Their chosen habitats are the rain and cloud forests of Central and South America.
Why are sloths so expensive to look after?
Other sloths are more particular, only eating certain trees and thus making them more expensive to look after. Sloths mate and give birth in the tree-tops, with the baby sloth clinging to its mother for the first nine-months of its life.
What is it like to be a sloth on Sunday?
You get to hang out in trees all day, munching on food, sleeping all the time, and moving real slow to blend in with your surroundings. For a sloth, Sunday is every day . Laziness is just the sloth way.