Sloth Facts for Kids

21 Sloth Facts For Kids

1. Sloth is the common name for several tree dwelling mammals in the Pilosa order and Folivora suborder.
2. You can identify a sloth by their long, coarse brown fur, long limbs, large curved claws and hanging upside down from a tree.
3. Paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence suggesting sloths first started to appear around 50 million years ago.
4. The distribution range for all sloth species is North America (Central America) and South America.
5. The habitat range for sloth species is limited to tropical rainforests.
6. Sloths are omnivorous and have a diet that consist of both meat and plant material.
7. The diet of a sloth usually includes carrion (dead flesh), fruit, insects, leaves, and reptiles (like small lizards).
8. Sloths have a very slow metabolic rate; it is only half of what the metabolic rate should be for a mammal of their size.
9. There are six living species of sloth divided into two different groups.
10. Four sloth species are in the three-toed sloths group in the Bradypus genus.
11. The three-toed sloths are the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), the pale-throated sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), the pygmy three-toed sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus), and the maned three-toed sloth (Bradypus torquatus).
12. Two sloth species are in the two-toed sloths group in the Choloepus genus.
13. The two-toed sloths are Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) and the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni).
14. The body length range for all sloth species is between 24 and 31 inches.
15. The bodyweight range for all sloth species is between 8 and 17 pounds.
16. Sloths always appear to be smiling due to their facial structure, even if their fearful or in pain.
17. Sloth are solitary animals and do not live in a social group.
18. Sloths spend most of their time in trees hanging upside down.
19. Sloths move very slowly and only covered about 13 feet per minute.
20. Sloths may be slow, but they are strong swimmers and can achieve a swimming speed of up to 44 feet per minute.
21. The sloth month lives almost exclusively by feeding off sloth skin secretions and algae on their fur.

Sloth Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on sloths. Below are three pictures of various sloth species. These pictures should help you better understand the different types of sloths found around the world.

A picture of the hoffmanns two toed sloth (holoepus hoffmanni).

A picture of the brown throated sloth (bradypus variegatus).

A picture of the Linnaeus two toed sloth (choloepus didactylus).