It´s very hard to study sloths in their natural habitat (the dense primary rainforest) because they live high up in the trees and they are so well camouflaged . Their enigmatic nature may be the reason why people have come up with some bizarre myths about them! Here are some of the most common myths about sloths (including some of our favorites).
One thought is that like koalas, there’s a common misconception that sloths are slow and lazy because they’re always high , or something along those lines. This is false. The reason why they’re so slow is due to their metabolism. It’s so slow that they simply don’t have the means to muster up enough energy for fast movements.
What are some interesting facts about sloths?
Sloths spend almost all of their lives in trees. Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside-down from tree branches . They eat, sleep, mate and give birth upside-down in the trees. Sloths hold onto tree branches with strong, curved claws that are on each of their four feet. Male sloths are solitary, shy animals.
They can swim through water three times faster than they can move on the ground! Three-fingered sloths have two more neck vertebrae than any other mammal. This allows them to turn their heads through 270° and effortlessly keep their nose above water when swimming. It takes sloths 30 days to digest a leaf .
Are sloths good swimmers?
Although they spend most of their time in the trees, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers . They can swim through water three times faster than they can move on the ground! Three-fingered sloths have two more neck vertebrae than any other mammal.
Some think that on the ground, the maximum speed of sloths is 3 metres (9.8 ft) per minute. Two-toed sloths are generally better able than three-toed sloths to disperse between clumps of trees on the ground. Sloths are surprisingly strong swimmers and can reach speeds of 13.5 metres (44 ft) per minute .
Surprisingly, sloths are strong swimmers . They will sometimes drop down from their treetop perches into water and use their extended arms to propel through the water. Do sloths ever leave the trees? Sloths spend a majority of their time up in the canopy, coming down only one time per week to relieve themselves.
Why do sloths not have incisors?
Because the animals don’t have incisors, they trim down leaves by smacking their firm lips together . A low metabolic rate means sloths can survive on relatively little food; it takes days for them to process what other animals can digest in a matter of hours. What threats do sloths face?