The sloth is mainly distributed in South America and is a very cute creature, but not much is known about it. The sloth is a very special animal, it is neither as agile as a cat nor as intelligent as a dog. Its body is clumsy and slow-moving, but its mind is very developed, its intelligence is very high, and it is one of the rare geniuses in the animal kingdom.
In the animal kingdom, sloths are the laziest because they live at most only 30 years and spend most of their lives sleeping. Well, why is such a lazy creature not yet extinct? Today we will find out.
Sloths, also known as small-clawed monsters and short-tailed monkeys, inhabit tropical rainforests and feed on fruits and leaves. It is also the smallest living primate in the world, with a small body size, weighing only about 4,000-8 kilograms and measuring about 60-80 centimeters in length.
The sloth's eyes are large and round, the mouth is small and pointed, the teeth are sharp, the nose and ears are grown above the head, like an umbrella, the whole body is covered with furry fine short hair, the limbs are slender, the walk is slow, the movements are slow, and it looks cute.
The reason why the sloths have survived to this day is mainly due to these reasons.
First, sloths are smart
Although sloths look very clumsy, they are intelligent, adaptable, and able to quickly integrate into their surroundings. When in danger, sloths immediately hide in the trunk or branches and curl up in a ball as a way to protect themselves.
Because sloths have particularly long legs, they can easily climb tall trees, and even climb to branches tens of meters above the ground. In addition, sloths can also use their tails to maintain body balance, and their thick and long necks allow them to survive safely in various dangerous situations.
In addition to being good at climbing trees, sloths are also very good at jumping. Although they have short legs, they jump high and when they feel that the tree is not safe enough, they will quickly jump from one tree to another and quickly climb to the tree to dodge.
Because the body is too fat, the sloth cannot maintain an upright posture for a long time, in order to reduce weight, it must constantly move its body, looking for a suitable foothold, if it can't find the right place, it will keep jumping around until it finds a suitable foothold.
Second, sloths are constantly evolving
It is well known that in most parts of the planet, winters are very cold, and in such a climate, many organisms cannot adapt and even freeze to death, such as some birds. However, for sloths, none of this is a problem. This is because it has a special gland in the body, "brown fat", which can maintain the body's temperature at a certain level, so as to avoid the influence of low temperature and ensure the normal operation of life activities.
Over the years, sloths have also been evolving. At first they simply made their body hair thicker and denser to withstand the cold, and later, as the climate warmed, they gradually adapted to the warm environment.
Third, sloths have strong survivability
Because sloths live on trees for a long time, they do not have high requirements for the environment, as long as there is a tree that can climb up, they can live, and they can also use leaves to build nests, so that they do not have to worry about falling. In addition, in order to avoid natural enemies, you must move frequently, which also exercises super survivability.
Because of the special body structure, the sloth eats very little, and can maintain life by eating only a few leaves a day, and even without eating. So, while other animals have to desperately forage for food in order to survive, the sloths are leisurely and do nothing all day.
Fourth, the living environment of the sloth is very good
The extinction of many animals is mainly due to the loss of habitat, such as those birds that originally lived in the rainforest, but due to the destruction of habitat, they had to move to other places; For example, those animals that like to live in groups, lions, tigers and other predators, will often kill each other in order to fight for territory.
And sloths have always grown in the mountains, or in the forest, where food is plentiful and easy to hide. Sloths love to sleep by nature, sleeping an average of more than 20 hours a day. In the wild, sloths are nocturnal animals that hide in dense trees or under rocks during the day and come out to feed at night.
Many carnivores do not like to eat this kind of small snack. Except for some birds and monkeys, no other carnivore has harmed it. So if you live here, the sloths have almost no natural enemies, and there is no need to worry about being attacked by other animals, it can be said that this is a natural haven.
It is precisely because of this that this cute-looking and intelligent species has survived to this day. Nowadays, the damage to the natural environment is becoming more and more serious, the forest area is constantly decreasing, and many trees are cut down in large quantities, resulting in environmental degradation, rising temperatures, and many animals have lost their homes.
Facing extinction, many animals that were already endangered are seriously threatened. It is hoped that human beings will realize the harm caused by destroying nature, and can gradually pay attention to the protection of wild animals and protect our earth.