Catalog Number:
67837
Object/Specimen Description:

partial skull; temporal (periotic, tympanic)

Specimen Count:
1
Upper Level Taxonomy:
Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Tetrapoda, Mammalia, Eutheria, Pilosa, Folivora, Megalonychidae

Two-toed sloths eat plants and occasional small insects, which are available in the trees where they spend nearly all their time. Their diet of mostly leaves, but also fruits, bark, and flowers makes for difficult digestion because plant cells have tough cellulose walls. The two-toed sloth's solution is a large stomach with multiple chambers to help process the plant material. It may take them up to a month to fully digest a meal. Their teeth are specialized for eating vegetation. A pair of front, triangular teeth (caniniforms) look like canines, sharp and pointed for tearing. The rest of the teeth (molariformes) are wide and flat like molars for mashing and grinding. A sloth moves slowly, explaining its low metabolic rate and reduced muscle size. Nearly all its daily energy is used just for finding and processing food. If you are accused of being a sloth, just argue that you are busy digesting.