Linnaeus's two-toed sloth

Linnaeus's two-toed sloth
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pilosa
Family: Megalonychidae
Genus: Choloepus
Species: C. didactylus
Binomial name
Choloepus didactylus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus's two-toed sloth range
Synonyms

Bradypus didactylus Linnaeus, 1758

Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), also known as the Southern two-toed sloth or unau, is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil north of the Amazon River.

It is a solitary, nocturnal and arboreal animal, found in rainforests. It is able to swim, making it possible to cross rivers and creeks. The two-toed sloth's main enemies are man, large birds of prey like the Harpy Eagle and Crested Eagle, and cats like the Ocelot and Jaguar.

Modern sloths are divided into two families based on the number of toes on their front feet. Linnaeus's two-toed sloth and Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) are larger than their three-toed cousins. They also have longer hair, bigger eyes, and their back and front legs are more equal in length.[3]

Linnaeus's two-toed sloth has recently been documented eating human faeces from open latrines.[4]

References

  1. ^ Gardner, Alfred (16 November 2005). Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 101. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=11800018. 
  2. ^ Meritt, M. & Members of the IUCN SSC Edentate Specialist Group (2008). Choloepus didactylus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 1 December 2008.
  3. ^ http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2004/6/sloths.cfm
  4. ^ Heymann, E. W., Flores Amasifuén, C., Shahuano Tello, N., Tirado Herrera, E. T. & Stojan-Dolar, M (2010). "Disgusting appetite: Two-toed sloths feeding in human latrines". Mammalian Biology 76: 84–86. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2010.03.003. 
  • Louise H. Emmons and Francois Feer, 1997 - Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, A Field Guide.

Gallery

  • 1883 painting

  • Choelopus didactylus at Buffalo Zoo

  • Sloth & baby, caught at Leticia, Colombia


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