Sloth

Sloths
Brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus).
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Superorder:	Xenarthra
Order:	Pilosa
Suborder:	Folivora

Sloths are Xenarthran mammals from Central and South America. They are part of the order Pilosa. There are two families of sloths: two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth. Most scientists call these two families the Folivora, while some call them the Phyllophaga.^[1] They live in trees, but in the past there were giant ground sloths.

The biogeographic origins of the Pilosa is still unclear, but they can be traced back in South America as far as the early Tertiary, about 60 million years ago. The presence of these animals in Central America is explained by the Great American Interchange.^[2]

1. ↑ These names mean 'leaf-eater' in Latin and Ancient Greek respectively.
2. ↑ Gardner, Alfred 2005. Sloths. In Wilson, Don E. and Reeder, DeeAnn M. eds Mammal species of the World. 3rd ed, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. 100-103. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0; OCLC 62265494