Two and Three Toed Sloths

The sloth, or “lazy bear” in Spanish, really does live up to its name. Sleeping 18-20 hours per day, the sloth’s main defense against predators is simply to avoid being noticed. Their slow, deliberate movements make them hard to spot, and the green algae that covers their coarse fur camouflages them. Their fur is also reflective of the sloths’ inverted lifestyle – as the sloth spends the majority of its time hanging upside-down in trees, it is the only mammal whose long, shaggy fur grows from belly to top, allowing rain water to run off, as the sloth eats, sleeps, mates, and gives birth while hanging from branches.