Photo of a sloth

Sloth
Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sloths move only when necessary and then very slowly: they have about half as much muscle tissue as other animals of similar weight. They can move at a marginally higher speed if they are in immediate danger from a predator (4.5 m / 15 feet per minute), but they burn large amounts of energy doing so. Their specialized hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside-down from branches without effort. While they sometimes sit on top of branches, they usually eat, sleep, and even give birth hanging from limbs. They sometimes remain hanging from branches after death. On the ground their maximum speed is 1.5 m / 5 feet per minute. They mostly move at 15-30 cm (0.5-1 feet) per minute.

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Ref: 2007_5651 Sloth Photos

Location: National Zoo, Washington, D.C.