The Three-Toed Sloth

The three-toed sloth is a slow moving animal that lives among the canopy in the Amazon. They are so slow moving in fact, that in a mutualistic relationship, they can have entire ecosystems in their fur including algae, moss, and some insects. This helps camouflage the sloth in the green canopy and provides a place for the ecosystem to live and grow. Sloths eat leaves and buds found in the very canopy they live in. They rarely travel to the ground below, only about once a week. Their claws are optimized for climbing and hanging, not ground movement. Unfortunately for the sloths their habitat is rapidly getting warmer and losing trees. Their claws must be rearranged to allow ground travel. Sloth’s fur should become lighter to repel heat and ecosystems to blend into the newly brown Amazon. Finally they must be able to digest bugs found on the rainforest ground.