This makes it easy for them to hold
on to tree branches while hanging
upside down.
There are six species of sloths. All
sloths have long, curved claws. They
have three claws on their back feet.
But their front feet have a different
number of claws depending on the
species. Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth
and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth have
two front claws. The brown-throated
sloth, maned sloth, pale-throated
sloth, and pygmy three-toed sloth all
have three front claws.
Except for when a mother sloth has
a baby, sloths live alone. Sometimes
more than one sloth will sleep in
the same tree. But
they do not do things
together. When a
sloth is ready to
move to a new tree, it
does not climb down.
Instead, it uses large
vines called lianas to cross
from one tree to another.
3.5
Average length, in inches
(8.9 cm), of a two-toed
sloth’s claws.
• Sloths live in rain forests
in Central and South
America.
• Sloths spend most of
their time in trees.
• Sloths hang on to trees
with their long front
claws.
• Sloths use vines to move
from tree to tree.
5
Sloths have
long legs and a
round head.
