Page 5 - Sloths Are Awesome - Animals Are Awesome
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3.5


                                                                   Average length, in inches
                                                                    (8.9 cm), of a two-toed
                       This makes it easy for them to hold               sloth’s claws.
                       on to tree branches while hanging
                       upside down.                               •  Sloths live in rain forests
                                                                     in Central and South
                       There are six species of sloths. All          America.

                       sloths have long, curved claws. They       •  Sloths spend most of
                       have three claws on their back feet.          their time in trees.
                       But their front feet have a different      •  Sloths hang on to trees
                       number of claws depending on the              with their long front
                                                                     claws.
                       species. Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth         •  Sloths use vines to move
                       and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth have            from tree to tree.
                       two front claws. The brown-throated

                       sloth, maned sloth, pale-throated
                       sloth, and pygmy three-toed sloth all
                       have three front claws.                                         Sloths have
                                                                                     long legs and a
                       Except for when a mother sloth has                              round head.
                       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.




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          12SL_ANIM_SLTH_FPGS.indd   5                                                             2/7/17   1:07 PM
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