Sloth
Sloths are medium-sized mammals that live in Central and South
America belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae,
part of the order Pilosa. Most scientists call these two families
the Folivora suborder, while some call it Phyllophaga.
Sloths are omnivores. They may eat insects, small lizards and
carrion, but their diet consists mostly of buds, tender shoots,
and leaves. Sloths have made extraordinary adaptations to an arboreal
browsing lifestyle. Leaves, their main food source, provide very
little energy or nutrition and do not digest easily: sloths have
very large, specialized, slow-acting stomachs with multiple
compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough
leaves.
