Common Name: Linne's Two-toed Sloth
Scientific Name: Choloepus didactylus

Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Xenarthra (Edentata)
Family: Megalonychidae
Genus: Choloepus
Species: Didactylus

This sloth lives in the tropical forests of northern South America.

All sloths are arboreal, spending almost all their lives hanging upside-down in the forest canopy.

Sloths have long gray or brown hair, which grows in the opposite direction from other mammals-from the belly to the back, so the rain will run off of them. They are roughly 2-feet long. They have a small flat head, large eyes, long legs, and tiny ears. All sloths have three fused toes. What differentiates the Two-toed Sloth from the three-toed is the number of claws on each paw. Two-toed Sloths have only two claws on the front paws. These claws are very strong and are used to hold onto tree branches. Sloths have primitive, peg-like teeth which grow continuously. They do not have incisors or canine teeth. They have 6 or 7 vertebrae (less than most mammals) allowing them to turn their heads a full 180 degrees. Three-toed Sloths have nine vertebrae. During the rainy season, algae grows along grooves in the hair, providing additional camouflage. As many as 900 species of beetles mites, ticks and moths have been found living in and feeding on this algae.

Sloths are nocturnal and sleep 18 or more hours a day. Males are shy, solitary animals. Females sometimes congregate together. It is very difficult to find them because they are so well camouflaged by the algae growing in their hair. Sloths get their name based on how slowly they move, about 4 miles/hour. Digestion is also very slow. Sloths only need to climb down the tree once a week to defecate. This process can take an hour or more. When on the ground, the moths that live in their fur hop off and lay eggs in the sloth’s excrement. Sloths spend almost all their time hanging upside down from a branch. They eat, sleep, mate and give birth in this position. Sloths practice thermoregulation in much the same way as reptiles. They bask for a time in the warmth of the sun, moving back to the shade when they get warm. Sloths are excellent swimmers.

Two-toed Sloths eat leaves, young shoot, and fruit. They do not drink, but obtain water from the leaves they eat.

Sexual maturity is reached at about 3 years in females, 4 or 5 years in males. Sloths mate (face-to-face) and give birth while hanging in the tree. Adult females produce and care for a single baby each year after a 37-38 week gestation. She carries the baby around on her belly for six months, after which she lets it go to establish itself in the home range. Sloths may live up to 20 years in the wild, in captivity, up to 40 years.

No information at this time.

For many years, it was believed that sloths ate only one type of leaf. It is now understood that different sloths have preferences for different leaves, thus eliminating competition between sloths. The type of digestive enzymes in the stomach determines this preference. It appears that mother sloths pass these specific enzymes to the young during feeding. This has solved the problem of why some sloths have died while in captivity. Their death was the result of an improper died of leaves that were not specific to their systems.

Linne’s Two-toed Sloth is a Population Management Plan animal.

Linne’s Two-toed Sloth is the slowest mammal in the world. It spends almost its entire life hanging from trees. They also have a microcosm living in their fur.

The Buffalo Zoo

As the third oldest zoo in the United States, the Buffalo Zoo houses some of the world's most exotic and endangered wildlife. In collaboration with the Center for Applied Technologies in Education, the Buffalo Zoo has provided these animal profiles to offer a glimpse into the diversity of the Zoo’s collection.