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The video above from the Natural History Museum in London details what’s going on in a sloth’s fur. Its skin and fur create a habitat filled with fungi, beetles, moths, and sandflies.
Three-toed sloths are about the size of a small dog or a large cat, with the head and body having a combined length of around 45 cm (18 in) and a weight of 3.5–4.5 kg (8–10 lb). Unlike the two-toed sloths, they also have short tails of 6–7 cm (2–3 in), and they have three clawed toes on each limb.
The pale-throated sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), occasionally known as the ai (/ ˈ ɑː i /), [4] is a species of three-toed sloth that inhabits tropical rainforests in northern South America. It is similar in appearance to, and often confused with, the brown-throated sloth , which has a much wider distribution.
They sometimes remain hanging from branches even after death. On the ground, the maximum speed of sloths is 3 m (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. [33] Sloths are surprisingly strong swimmers and can reach speeds of 13.5 m (44 ft) per minute. [34]
The brown-throated sloth is of similar size and build to most other species of three-toed sloths, with both males and females being 42 to 80 cm (17 to 31 in) in total body length. The tail is relatively short, only 2.5 to 9 cm (1.0 to 3.5 in) long.
The major threat to the maned sloth is the loss of its forest habitat as a result of lumber extraction, charcoal production, and clearance for plantations and cattle pastures. This factor along with frequent exposure to various foreign diseases, hunters, and predators contributed to the Maned Three-Toed Sloth's Vulnerable (VU) status in the wild.
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The pygmy three-toed sloth is unique in that it is found exclusively in the red mangroves of Isla Escudo de Veraguas; the island has a small area of approximately 4.3 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi). A 2012 census of pygmy three-toed sloths estimated the total population at 79 – of which 70 occurred on mangroves and 9 in the surroundings.