#slothmonday Nº 1

What is a sloth?

Sloths are a group of mammals that nowadays live hanging from the trees and move really slow. However, this was not always the case; more than 10,000 years ago there were, in vast regions of the Americas, several species of sloths that reached body masses of about 5 tonnes. These animals were not slow at all and they definitely did not sleep on trees.

But, what do they have in common, then? The easiest thing to see is the really big claws they have in all four limbs, which were also a feature of the giant sloths. And if we look at their teeth, we will find they have no incisives nor true canines.

Follow us later on for another #slothmonday to learn about the unique vertebrae these animals had and about their unusual locomotion styles.