Today I bring you the Sloth
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| oh hai |
The top 10 reasons why the sloth is one of my favorite animals:
10) Sloths are related to the anteater and the armadillo, which are also fascinating animals (order Xenartha).
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| Anteater |
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| Armadillo |
9) The sloth's ancient relative, the Giant Ground Sloth, was as big as an elephant.
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| not as cute |
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| look how green! |
7) Sloths store extra fat in the pads of their feet. I don't know why but I find this endearing.
6) Three-toed sloths have an extra neck vertebrae, enabling them to move their heads approximately 270 degrees. They are also naturally smiley.
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| smiley! |
5) Sloths conserve energy by maintaining a lower body temperature than other mammals (93 degrees versus 100-103 degrees, all are averages). In addition, their body temperature varies with the ambient temperature- like cold-blooded animals!
4) Sloths have giant claws (I love claws), which help them hang upside-down in trees. Sometimes they remain hanging from a tree even after death.
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| Three-toed claws |
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| Three-toed claws |
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| Two-toed claws |
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| Two-toed claws |
3) Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in trees. I feel no need to elaborate on this one.
2) The sloth's metabolism is so slow that they only need to relieve themselves once a week. Many sloths will stay in the same tree for the majority of their lives, and they will return to the same spot under that tree each week to urinate and defecate. Then they BURY it.
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| weekly trip to the restroom |
And now (drum roll...) the #1 reason why sloths are one of my favorite animals:
1) They cannot walk on land (they must drag themselves along on their bellies) but they are excellent swimmers. Please watch the video below for the 28 most mind-blowing seconds of your day.
Amazing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kMe2UvPS4vI
I hope I have increased your appreciation of sloths. If you don't think they are awesome by now, what is wrong with you?!
Thanks for reading!
PS: If you skipped the video under reason #1 please go back and watch it. I promise it will be 28 seconds well spent.
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| like a boss |
If there isn't a band called "the swimming sloths" already, there needs to be.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree!
DeleteYou forgot to mention that their babies look like little gremlins!!! Can I put in a request for the next most awesome animal blog-- the SLOW LORIS!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell now I'm going to google image search baby sloths :) The Slow Loris was actually on my list as the next awesome animal alert but I think I'll be doing the octopus or Giant Anteater instead. Turns out octopuses are pretty incredible. The Slow Loris later perhaps...
Delete