Viatouch Teacher Articles
Science

Just Hanging Around!

by Margaret Etherton

You probably know that a sloth is a quiet and sluggish animal that hangs around in trees. A sloth moves almost in slow motion, rocking its way around a tree, grabbing one branch after another, or hanging upside down. The word 'slothful' means slow and lazy. But truthfully, sloths are not lazy. They move slowly for a completely different reason!

Sloths live in South and Central America in areas of tropical rainforest. The two main species are called two-toed and three-toed sloths. They both have three toes, but they have a different number of fingers on their hands---two fingers on the two-toed sloths and three fingers on the three-toed sloths. The other difference is the three-toed sloth has a small tail and an orange patch with a black border between its shoulders.

Sloths have small, flat faces. They are huge and hairy and their rounded heads are small compared to their bodies. Sloths have four very long legs ending in clawed toes and fingers. Their ears are well hidden behind a sprout of fur. Sloths look like monkeys, but they are more similar to armadillos and American anteaters. Like armadillos and anteaters, sloths have an extra strong backbone. Sloths however, are different from both of these animals, because they live in trees and are clumsy on the ground.

Have you heard the sloth is bright green? It's true! The sloth moves so slowly that green algae have time to grow on it! In the wet season, the algae grow in groves along the hair so that the hairs seem to be green. The sloth doesn't mind. The jungle green is camouflage to blend in with the lush green rainforest.

The sloth lives life in the slow lane. It moves slowly because its metabolism, a series of chemical reactions in which food is used to create energy for bodily functions, is unusually slow. Sloths can survive on a low-nutrient diet, whereas other animals require richer food sources. Some of the plants it eats are toxic, but the sloth is able to break down the toxins and render them harmless. It eats a variety of about twenty-one different plants and prefers the young leaves.

Most sloths stay in one tree all day. When it rains, water runs off their bodies easily because their hair (unlike other mammals) grows towards the center of their back instead of away from the center. Sloths only come down once a week for a bathroom break. A sloth can't walk on the ground very well because its fingernails are so long that they get in the way. They eat and sleep upside down. They even give birth upside down! Sloths are not lazy animals. But they are the slowest mammal in the world, hanging around, living life upside down.

Bibliography

Books:

Bailey, Jill. Factfile of Mammals - 200 Mammals From Around the World.
London: Andromeda Oxford Ltd, 1996.

Macdonald, David, ed. The New Encyclopedia of Mammal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

May, John and Marten, Michael. The Book of Beasts. New York: Viking Press, 1982.

Myers, Philip. Mammals, An Explore your World Handbook. London: Discovery Books, 2000.

Internet Sources:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/sloth/index.shtml

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/xenarthra/megalonychidae.html

http://www.weeonesmag.com/february/weeones/monthly4.html

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Xenarthra.html

Margaret Etherton is a teacher, tutor and writer. She has taught a range of subjects, such as reading, writing, mathematics and computers to people of all ages - from small kids to seniors. Her publishing credits include over twenty fiction and non-fiction articles for Australian School Magazines. Many of her stories have been created about animals from an interesting viewpoint or with a twist in the telling. Margaret lives close to the beach in Sydney with her husband, her four children and her cat, Mushka.

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