Average life span of two-toed sloths is 20 years in the wild, ages of 30 to 40 years have been recorded in captivity.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Two-toed sloths are in serious danger of losing their habitat due to logging of rain forests. Aside from captive animals, this is the only area in the world in which this species lives. Several organizations are currently working to protect these areas.
US Federal List: threatened
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There is no direct negative effect of sloths on humans.
Two-toed sloths are a valuable food source and are often hunted for their meat.
Choloepus didactylus feed primarily on vegetation, including berries, leaves, small twigs, and fruits, cropping the leaves with their lips. On occasion sloths have been known to eat insects and other small prey. They obtain water from vegetation and by lapping dew.
Found in the tropical forest canopies of Central America and northern South America, including portions of Brazil and Peru.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Choloepus didactylus is strictly arboreal, staying high in the canopy of the tropical rain forests, and maintaining a range of about 10-acres.
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 27.8 years.
Two-toed sloths have been called the slowest animals on earth. Ranging in length from 21 to 29 inches, Choloepus didactylus is roughly the size and shape of a small dog. The body is composed of a short neck (only 6-7 vertebrae) with four long limbs of equal length, ending in two curved claws. The head is short and flat, with a snub nose, rudimentary ears, and large eyes.
Choloepus didactylus are covered in long brownish-grey hair that curves from stomach to back, opposite that of most mammals. A unique feature of this fur is that each strand has grooves which collect algae, giving the sloth a greenish tint and camouflaging it from predators.
The teeth of the two-toed sloth are small, simple molars that are continously growing but constantly ground down by the mastication of food. To compensate for a lack of sharp teeth, Choloepus didactylus has hardened lips which act to shear and crop leaves.
Range mass: 4 to 8 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Females of this species of sloth reach sexual maturity at 3 years of age, males reach sexual maturity between 4 and 5. After a gestation period of six months, females give birth to one offspring each year. When the young are born they are 10 inches in length and weigh 12 ounces. They cling to their mother's belly for 5 weeks until they have the strength to move on their own.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 356 g.
Average gestation period: 279 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 1644 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 1279 days.
Folivores or generalized herbivores — will eat leaves, twigs, buds, fruit, and occasionally rodents, and insects
Favorite trees (*indicates species favored by all species)
Dipteryx panamensis*
Sapium caudatum
Terminalia amazonica
Spondius nigrescens
Trattinickia aspera
Chrysophyllum panamensis
Anacardium excelsium*
Seldom drink. Moisture is obtained from plant matter and dew on leaves
Metabolic rate is only about 40 to 60% of that of other mammals this size (Gilmore 2000)
Food has low energy content — may contain poisonous compounds that require low rate of absorption for detoxification
Young leaves digested at highest rates. Only mature leaves of certain species can be digested quickly enough to avoid starvation
Preyed upon by harpy eagles, anacondas, jaguars, ocelots and of course humans. Excellent camouflage and slow movement help them elude predators
Several Species of pyramid moths occasionally inhabit fur (far more common on bradypus
By defecating at the base of their host cecropia tree, the sloth provides the tree with fertilizer.
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), also known as the southern two-toed sloth, unau, or Linne's two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil north of the Amazon River. There is now evidence suggesting the species' range expands into Bolivia.[4]
Sloths belong to the order Pilosa, which also includes anteaters. They belong to the super order Xenarthra, which includes the Cingulata. Xenarthra are edentate or toothless. They lack incisors and have a large reduction in number of teeth with only four to five sets remaining including canines.[5]
Modern sloths are divided into two families based on the number of toes on their front feet, Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae. Linnaeus's two-toed sloth and Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) belong to the family Choloepodidae, which included extinct ground sloths.[6]
Choloepus didactylus are larger than three-toed sloths. They have longer hair, bigger eyes, and their back and front legs are more equal in length.[7] Their ears, hind feet and head are generally larger than Bradypodidae. They do however have a shorter tail.[8] Their shoulder height, the height from the shoulder blade to the tips of the claw is longer than three-toed sloths, indicating longer arms.[8]
The species has relatively few teeth; it has four to five sets including canines and lacks incisors. The teeth lack enamel, consisting only of two layers ever-growing dentin.[5] Supernumerary teeth have occasionally been observed, but this has been reported in almost all mammalian orders.[5]
C. didactylus is a solitary, nocturnal and arboreal animal, found in rainforests. The two-toed sloth falls prey to wild cats such as the ocelot and jaguar as well as large birds of prey such as the harpy and crested eagles. Predation mainly occurs when the sloth descends to the ground in order to defecate or change trees.[6] Anacondas have also been known to hunt sloths.[6] It is able to swim, making it possible to cross rivers and creeks, but maybe also making it more available to a predator like an anaconda.
Two-toed sloths live in ever-wet tropical rainforests that are hot and humid. They tend to live in areas where there is a lot of vine growth so they can easily travel from tree to tree in the canopies of the forests.[6] They mainly eat leaves, but there is lacking data on the extent of their diet due to their nocturnal lifestyle and camouflage.[6]
C. didactylus, similar to other sloth species, have a low rate of metabolism, food intake, and defecation, despite their relatively large body mass and their high volumes of methane production. They retain their digested material for long periods of time, due to a combination of their low defecation rates and large digestive systems.[9] This long digestion period appears to cause the sloths’ high volumes of methane production, more than most other, similar herbivores.[9] These high methane levels may also be the result of high formate levels in their digested material.[10]
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), also known as the southern two-toed sloth, unau, or Linne's two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil north of the Amazon River. There is now evidence suggesting the species' range expands into Bolivia.
