Sloth Diet

Sloths are mammals in the xenarthrans family. Sloths are slow animals that live a life of solitude in the trees of Brazil. Because of their slow nature, sloths only go near the ground to defecate or move to another tree they could not reach through branches. Sloths appear to have a grey or green coat because of the algae that grows on their fur and provides them camouflage in the trees.

  1. Species

    • There are two distinct species of sloths, the two-toed and the three-toed sloth. The two-toed sloth is believed to have descended from the ancient ground sloth that actually walked and spent most of its time on the ground. The three-toed sloth is believed to have descended from true tree sloths. The greatest evidence to support this theory is the difference in these two variety's diets.

    Food Preferences

    • The two-toed sloth is an herbivore, which means it eats leaves, flowers and fruits. In times when plant life is scarce, this variety also has been known to consume bird eggs, nestlings, lizards and insects. The three-toed sloth is a strict folivore, eating only leaves. Because of this animal's restricted diet, it is known as the slowest animal in the world.

    Digestive System

    • Many of the leaves the three-toed sloth prefers are difficult to digest. In fact, many of the leaves are actually poisonous to most jungle insects and other mammals. To circumvent this problem, the sloth's stomach is divided into various chambers that are capable of storing the leaves in separate groupings depending upon their length of digestion.