Sloth Berenang

Berikut fakta lain dari sloth dirangkum dari berbagai sumber:

What can we do to protect both species?

These extraordinary creatures’ continued existence hinges significantly on our actions today. This involves adopting more sustainable farming practices and endorsing conservation initiatives that safeguard the natural habitats of these animals from further degradation.

You can support organizations working with this species, like Wildlife SOS, founded in 1995; it has a strong track record in India for rescuing wildlife in distress, including sloth bears, elephants, leopards, and others. Free the Bears is an organization that works to rescue and rehabilitate bears in various Asian countries.

Four species of ground sloths inhabited the United States at the end of the last Ice Age. These were Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii), Laurillard's ground sloth (Eremotherium laurillardi), the Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis), and Harlan's ground sloth (Glossotherium harlani). Of these four only two, Jefferson's and Harlan's ground sloths, are found in the midwestern U.S.

Ground sloths were large relatives of the modern two-toed sloths (Choloepus spp.) and three-toed sloths (Bradypus spp.). Unlike modern sloths, which spend most of their time in trees, the ground sloths spent all of their time on the ground. This is fortunate because Jefferson's and Harlan's ground sloth were each about the size of an oxen.

All four species of ground sloth had very large claws. However, all were herbivores. They had relatively small, blunt teeth, which they probably used for browsing on trees and shrubs. The shape of their hip bones indicates that they could stand up on their hind legs. This would allow them to reach high up into trees for the best leaves and twigs.

The picture above shows a reconstruction of Jefferson's ground sloth from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History.

Conservation Status of Sloths and Sloth Bears

IUCN is the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Under their Red List of Threatened Species, sloth bears are listed as vulnerable as of 2016 during their last assessment. Their population is decreasing, with an estimated of fewer than 20,000 individuals spread across the Indian subcontinent.

Some sloth species are in a similar situation; IUCN has the Maned Sloth listed as vulnerable with the population decreasing. Pygmy Sloths are listed as critically endangered, with a population size of around 2,000-2,500 individuals.

The Brown-Throated Sloth is listed as Least Concern, though there is evidence indicating the population is decreasing as well; for this reason, it is urgent to determine the species’ population trends.

Sloth banyak ditemukan di hutan tropis dataran rendah Amerika Selatan dan Amerika Tengah. (Foto: Sloth Conservation)

- Sloth dikenal sebagai hewan termalas di dunia namun jago berenang. Satwa ini termasuk subordo Folivora alias mamalia penghuni pohon yang terkenal karena gerakannya lambat.

Sloth banyak ditemukan di hutan tropis dataran rendah Amerika Selatan dan Amerika Tengah. Ciri-cirinya memiliki kaki panjang, ekor kekar, kepala bulat, dan telinga yang tidak mencolok. Sloth mempunyai penglihatan dan pendengaran yang begitu jelas. Sloth lebih berorientasi pada sentuhan.

Hewan ini memiliki berat sekitar 3,6 - 7,7 kilogram dengan tinggi 0,6 - 0,8 meter tergantung spesiesnya.

How Slothy are Sloth Bears?

Sloth bears adapt their sleep cycle to their environment, which may be a nocturnal, diurnal, or crepuscular schedule depending on other bears, people, or predators in their habitat. Sloth bears may forage for food at night and sleep during the day to avoid potential conflicts with humans. They typically sleep 10 to 14 hours a day and do not hibernate.

Sloths, contrary to popular belief, do not sleep more than the average 10 to 12 hours, and from our last published research, we know that their activity varies depending on the individual and even differs across the same population; some sloths are more diurnal, others nocturnal.

Perenang yang Baik

Meskipun sloth menjadi hewan terlambat di darat, tetapi saat berada di air, sloth terkenal lebih lincah. Sloth bisa berenang tiga kali lebih cepat dibandingkan saat bergerak di tanah.

Sloth Ranges, Then and Now

This map shows some of the important ground sloth finds in the region. Green dots represent Jefferson's ground sloth finds, and yellow triangles represent Harlan's ground sloth finds.

More information on Ground Sloths can be found at the La Brea Tarpits Web site, and at the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum.

Group of tree dwelling mammals noted for slowness

Sloths are a Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. Sloths are considered to be most closely related to anteaters, together making up the xenarthran order Pilosa.

There are six extant sloth species in two genera – Bradypus (three-toed sloths) and Choloepus (two-toed sloths). Despite this traditional naming, all sloths have three toes on each rear limb – although two-toed sloths have only two digits on each forelimb.[3] The two groups of sloths are from different, distantly related families, and are thought to have evolved their morphology via parallel evolution from terrestrial ancestors. Besides the extant species, many species of ground sloths ranging up to the size of elephants (like Megatherium) inhabited both North and South America during the Pleistocene Epoch. However, they became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event around 12,000 years ago, along with most large animals across the Americas. The extinction correlates in time with the arrival of humans, but climate change has also been suggested to have contributed. Members of an endemic radiation of Caribbean sloths also formerly lived in the Greater Antilles but became extinct after humans settled the archipelago in the mid-Holocene, around 6,000 years ago.

Sloths are so named because of their very low metabolism and deliberate movements. Sloth, related to slow, literally means "laziness", and their common names in several other languages (e.g. German: Faultier, French: paresseux, Spanish: perezoso, Romanian: leneș, Finnish: laiskiainen) also mean "lazy" or similar. Their slowness permits their low-energy diet of leaves and avoids detection by predatory hawks and cats that hunt by sight.[3] Sloths are almost helpless on the ground but are able to swim.[4] The shaggy coat has grooved hair that is host to symbiotic green algae which camouflage the animal in the trees and provide it nutrients. The algae also nourish sloth moths, some species of which exist solely on sloths.[5]

Are sloth bears related to sloths?

Contrary to their name, sloth bears and sloths are not closely related, and both belong to entirely different taxonomic orders and families with unique evolutionary histories. For example, sloth bears belong to the order Carnivora, which includes mammals such as dogs, cats, seals, and bears. Within this order, they are also under Ursidae or Bear family.

The name “sloth bear” comes from the bear’s slow-moving behavior and long claws, like a sloth, which led early zoologists and taxonomists to draw parallels between them. However, this similarity is due to convergent evolution, where unrelated species independently develop similar traits in response to similar environments.

Despite these surface resemblances, sloth bears and sloths are genetically and taxonomically distant as well as having strikingly different evolutionary paths.

Sloths, unlike sloth bears, belong to the order Pilosa, sharing it with anteaters and armadillos. Over millions of years, sloths have adapted to a slow-paced arboreal lifestyle, developing features like long arms, curved claws, and a slow metabolism to thrive in treetop habitats where they perform various activities, including eating, sleeping, mating, and giving birth.

Sloth bones and claws

All four species of ground sloth had very large claws and small, blunt teeth. They all were herbivores and probably used the teeth for browsing on trees and shrubs. The shape of their hip bones indicates that they could stand up on their hind legs. This would allow them to reach high up into trees for the best leaves and twigs.

The bone on the left is the finger bone (phalanx) that supports the claw on the thumb of a Jefferson's ground sloth. The specimen on the right is a tooth, also from a Jefferson's ground sloth.

Both of these specimens were recovered from Heinze Cave, Jefferson County, Missouri. Radiocarbon dating indicates that both specimens are more than 40,000 years old.

All four species of ground sloth became extinct in North America approximately 10,000 years ago. The reason for their extinction is being studied by paleontologists.

Memiliki Mata Buta di Siang Hari

Sloth memiliki kondisi yang sangat langka yang disebut sebagai monokromasi batang. Hal ini membuat sloth tidak memiliki sel kerucut di mata mereka. Akibatnya, sloth mengalami

total di siang hari dan memiliki sedikit penglihatan di cahaya yang redup atau malam hari, sehingga sloth banyak melakukan aktivitasnya di malam hari.