![]() ![]() She loves nothing more than hiking in nature with her camera in search of wild creatures. Katie is a 25-year-old Zoologist from the UK. Two-fingered sloths that also eat protein gain that extra amount of energy in their diet which allows them to have a faster metabolism and have the ability to move a lot faster than three-fingered sloths, but they still wouldn’t outpace a cheetah! They move slowly, digest slowly, and only go to the toilet once or twice a week. As a result, sloths have a very slow metabolism, this means they expend very little energy each day to survive. However whilst three-fingered sloths are almost entirely herbivorous, two-fingered sloths are folivores, meaning they could opportunistically eat some animal protein.Ī diet of leaves is not very nutritious, and sloths have to eat lots and lots of leaves to gain their energy. The main diet of both species is leaves they are quite fussy and only eat the fresh, new, juicy leaves. They have specialized hair that encourages algae growth, this gives them a greenish tinge and helps with camouflage up in the treetops. Photo via Toucan Rescue Ranchīoth species of sloth, however, have a very unusual symbiotic relationship with algae. These three-fingered sloths have a paler mask of fur on their face with distinctive black markings like a bandit around the eyes. Brown-throated sloths have a grayish-brown fur covering their body with darker brown patches of fur on the throat, the sides of the face, and the forehead. Hoffman’s two-fingered sloths have a coat of long, coarse fur which ranges in color from dark brown to pale yellow with much lighter yellow-white fur covering the head. These extra vertebrae allow a three-fingered sloth to turn its head a full 270 degrees, but the two-fingered sloth is limited to only 90 degrees of rotation. The two-fingered sloth has six vertebrae, while the three-fingered sloth has nine. There are also a couple of differences you won’t be able to spot from the outside. Two-fingered sloths have similarly sized arms and legs, while three-fingered sloths have arms longer than their back legs. Another interesting difference is the length of their limbs. The smaller Brown-throated sloth ranges in size between 45 to 60 cm and 3.5 to 5.2 kgs in weight. They also have thicker, shaggier fur which emphasizes their larger size. Hoffman’s two-fingered sloths range between 50 to 75 cm in length and 4.5 to 9 kg in weight. Two-fingered sloths are noticeably bigger than their three-fingered counterparts. Moving forwards, let’s refer to them as two-fingered and three-fingered sloths for ease. For example, the Hoffman’s sloth has three “toes” on each hindlimb and two “fingers” on each forelimb, but the Brown-throated sloth has three “toes” on each hindlimb and three “fingers” on each forelimb. It is in fact the number of “fingers” that differs between the species. Ok, let’s get the confusing misnomer out of the way first: All species of sloth only have three “toes” on each foot. Let’s play a game of spot the difference between two-toed and three-toed sloths to learn what makes them so unique. Here in Costa Rica, we have two species, one from each family group: the Hoffman’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus Hoffmanni) and the Brown-throated 3-toed sloth (Bradypus Variegatus). (To help to keep our visitors safe we will be closed each day between 12.30 – 1.00pm to deep clean the premises)īe the first to know when there’s news or events at The Living Rainforest by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on Facebook and Twitter.Sloths are split into two family groups: two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths. We have implemented a new visit reservation system with two timed visits 9.30 – 12.30 and 1.00 – 4.00 Other species you might like Six-banded armadillo Goeldi’s monkey Pygmy marmosets How to find us As I often hang upside down, this help water to run off my fur. If you see me up close you might notice my fur grows upside down from my belly towards my back. ![]() My name is Cinnamon, I even have my own Facebook page where I give news about the rainforest. ![]() You’ll find me in the Amazonica glasshouse, I can often be found high up in the branches, look out for the sign or ask a member of staff if you can’t find me. ![]()
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