The Natural History of the Sloth. Biology 101 Project for Professor Swatski, HACC, York Campus.

1. The Natural
History of
the Sloth
By Angel
Hartman
Biology 101
Professor
Swatski

2. Anatomy &
Physiology
• Fur Coat
• Algae
• About the size of
a cat
• Small
eyes, snout, head,
and tail
• Large eyes and
legs
• Very long, sturdy
claws
 Great for
climbing
 Terrible for
crawling

3. Anatomy &
Physiology
Cont.
• Slow
• Don’t fall often
• Body temperature
75-91 degrees
Fahrenheit (24-33
degrees Celsius)
• Jaguar, Harpy
Eagle, and
humans

4. Behaviors
• Mostly upside-
down
• Eat, sleep, mate, a
nd give birth
• Nocturnal
• 15-20 hrs.
• Once a week from
trees
• Solar energy

5. • Leaves
• Fruit
• Flowers
• Twigs
• Buds
• Water
• 1 month to
digest

6.  10-12 month gestation
period
 One baby at a time
 Total of one year
together
 20 years in wild
 30 years in captivity

7. Conservation Status
• Unable to survive outside the
tropical rainforests
• Successful creatures
• Only one species endangered
• Destruction of rainforests
may lead to more

8.  Bazzalo, Mariel. "A Translocation Experiment For The Conservation Of Maned Sloths, Bradypus
Torquatus (Xenarthra, Bradypodidae)." Biological Conservation, 118.4 (2004): 421. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 05 October 2011.
 Clauss, Marcus. "The Potential Interplay Of Posture, Digestive Anatomy, Density Of Ingesta And
Gravity In Mammalian Herbivores: Why Sloths Do Not Rest Upside Down." Mammal
Review, 34.3 (2004): 241-245. Academic Search Premier. Web. 04 October 2011.
 Cohn, Jeffrey. “Life in the Slow Lane.” Americas, 60.4 (2008): 38-45. Proquest. Web. 09 October 2011.
 Duplantier, Jean-Marc. "Reproductive Biology And Postnatal Development In Sloths, Bradypus
Andcholoepus: Review With Original Data From The Field (French Guiana) And From
Captivity." Mammal Revie,w 31.34 (2001): 173. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 October
2011.
 Gould, Stephen Jay. "Can We Truly Know Sloth And Rapacity?" Natural History, 105.4 (1996):
18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 04 October 2011.
 Nyakatura, John A. and Martin S. Fischer. “Functional morphology and three-dimensional
kinematics of the thoraco-lumbar region of the spine of the two-toed sloth.” Journal of
Experimental Biology, 213.24 (2010): 4278-4290. Academic Search Premiere. Web. 05 October
2011.
 Paabo, S. "A Molecular Analysis Of Ground Sloth Diet Through The Last Glaciation." Molecular
Ecology, 9.12 (2000): 1975. Academic Search Premier. Web. 08 October 2011.
 "Zoology: Less than slothful." Nature, 453.7194 (2008): 430. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 October