Sloths are amazing creatures. You can watch for a long time as they are imposing and at the same time gracefully moving, languidly covering their eyes and not hurrying anywhere. Perhaps, sloths know a lot about life – after all, as they say, who understood life – he does not hurry … But sloths are certainly nowhere and never in a hurry.
In nature, sloths lack natural enemies, but these slow creatures escape from them due to the fact that most of their life is spent on trees, where not every predator can reach.
The average speed of displacement of a sloth is about two meters per minute.
Sloths move so slowly to save energy. This is due to the fact that all sloth eat exclusively vegetable food, not getting all the necessary vitamins. Such a slow rhythm of life allows them not to spend extra calories in vain.
On the fur of some species of sloths grow symbiotic blue-green algae. For sloths they play the role of disguise.
Sloths descend from the trees only to correct the need, and it usually is not more often than once in 5-7 days.
Some types of sloths, for example, three-toed, can turn their heads almost 300 degrees, which is more than even the owls.
Despite some external resemblance to primates, the closest biological relatives of sloths are armadillos and anteaters.
Archaeologists argue that once on Earth there were sloths, the size comparable to Asian elephants.
On the digestion of some types of plant foods in sloths takes 3-4 weeks. The fact is that their digestive system also differs by leisure.
Sloths are great swimmers, oddly enough.
Descent from the tree every time is a difficult task for the sloth.
In most species of sloths, an extremely acute sense of smell, they are able to easily isolate the plant of interest from the total mass of the jungle at a considerable distance.
Long claws serve sloths for safer movement through trees, and are not used by them for self-defense. Sloths are completely harmless and even defenseless.
Fat reserves in case of their appearance in sloths are deposited in the pads of their hind legs.
