Known for their impressive hunting abilities, jaguars (Panthera onca) are both feared and revered. Weighing a hefty 56-96 kg (120-200+ lbs) they are the biggest felines living in the Western Hemisphere and the third largest cat species on Earth (after lions and tigers).

Sloths are naturally solitary animals, but they are not all alone up there in the canopy. In fact, sloths have an entire ecosystem living in their fur made up of different species of algae, fungi, moths, and insects. That’s millions of organisms for company!

Cliffe, R.N., Robinson, C.V., Whittaker, B.A., Kennedy, S.J., Avey‐Arroyo, J.A., Consuegra, S. and Wilson, R.P., 2020. Genetic divergence and evidence of human‐mediated translocation of two‐fingered sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) in Costa Rica. Evolutionary Applications, 13(9), pp.2439-2448.

What is the skeleton of a Sloth like? What are their claws made of? The internet is full of ‘facts’ about sloths. You will be surprised to know how much of this information is untrue.

Hace seis años, la fundadora de SloCo, Dra. Rebecca Cliffe, lanzó un importante proyecto de investigación sobre la genética de perezosos en Costa Rica.

You may be surprised that only three of the seven species of sloths are considered threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who the vast majority of the scientific community consider having compiled the most comprehensive and reliable information source of population counts and risk levels facing flora, fauna, and fungi.

What exactly is a sloth? Are they related to bears? Monkeys? Marsupials? No! Sloths are actually part of a super ancient (and super strange) family of mammals called the xenarthrans (pronounced zen-ar-thrans).

The Harpy Eagle holds the crown as the most powerful eagle in the world – and it also happens to be the sloth’s main predator!

Although there are tons of sloth myths on the internet coming from self-appointed sloth experts, there are actually very few scientific studies that have been done on sloths.

Sloths are far from being simple, lazy creatures that just sleep all day. They are complex, mysterious animals with an evolutionary history, features, and characteristics so weird that you might accuse us of making them up.

As mammals, we (almost) all have some traits in common: seven cervical vertebrae in the neck, a relatively constant body temperature of 37°C/98°F, hair covering our bodies, three middle ear bones, a nice complex brain, and four limbs.

This week we celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity! Did you know that the sloths we see today only represent a very small amount of the sloth diversity that once existed?

Cliffe, R.N. and Haupt, R.J., 2018. Hanging out for a drink. Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment, 16(8).

There is a reason why sloths are only found in neotropical rainforests – because the weather is warm, humid and relatively stable all year round. Sloths are unable to regulate their own body temperatures like most mammals, and instead are completely reliant on the environmental conditions.

We often receive reports of sloths that have been severely burnt or attacked with machetes as they are spotted with what appears to be a horrifying injury on the upper back.

Probably. Sloths are often perceived as being simple, lazy animals that do little other than sleep all day. In fact, you might find it downright insulting if somebody suggested that a sloth could beat you in an arm-wrestle.

Cliffe, R.N., Haupt, R.J., Avey-Arroyo, J.A. and Wilson, R.P., 2015. Sloths like it hot: ambient temperature modulates food intake in the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus). PeerJ, 3, p.e875.

The Pygmy sloths of Panama are considered to be one of the world’s most critically endangered mammals with the last official population count identifying only 79 individuals in 2012.

Cliffe, R.N., Avey-Arroyo, J.A., Arroyo, F.J., Holton, M.D. and Wilson, R.P., 2014. Mitigating the squash effect: sloths breathe easily upside down. Biology Letters, 10(4), p.20140172.