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The
Sloth has long gray or brown hair that blends in well with
the surrounding environment, making it difficult for predators,
such as the jaguar, to see them. This hair curves in the
opposite direction of most other mammals: from the stomach
to the back. Their hair is often covered with a coat of
blue-green algae during the rainy season. This algae provides
camouflage. They grow to a length of between one and a half
and two and a half feet (in about 2 1/2 years).
Their ancestor, the Giant Ground Sloth, which lived before
the last ice age, reached the size of the modern elephant.
The Sloth eats leaves and buds. The two-toed species also
eat twigs, fruits, and small prey. Their low rate of metabolism
enables them to live on relatively little food. They do
not have incisors and crop leaves with their hard lips.
Their teeth grow continuously, as they are worn down by
the grinding of their food. They don't drink but get their
water from eating juicy leaves & licking dewdrops.
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