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A two-toed sloth hanging from branches by its long claws.
Photo: Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two-Toed Sloth

Choloepus didactylus

An upside-down rainforest mammal of Central and South America that sleeps about 15 hours a day and grows algae in its fur.

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About the Two-Toed Sloth

Linnaeus's two-toed sloths live in the tropical rain forests of Central America and northern South America. They spend most of their lives hanging upside down from branches with long, curved claws. They sleep about 15 hours during the day and wake at night to eat leaves, fruit and fresh green shoots. Sloths look slow in trees, but they are surprisingly good swimmers.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Choloepus didactylus[1]
Size
21 to 29 inches (53 to 74 cm) long.[1]
Weight
9 to 17 pounds (4 to 8 kg).[1]
Lifespan
Median of about 16 years in human care.[1]
Diet
Leaves, fruit and fresh green shoots.[1]
Habitat
Tropical rain forests.[1]
Where it lives
Central America and northern South America.[1]
Group life
Sleeps about 15 hours during the day and is active at night. Uses a home range of about 10 acres.[1]
Babies
Pregnancy lasts about six months. The baby clings to its mother's belly for five weeks.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2013).[2]

Fun facts

  • Food can stay in a sloth's digestive tract for about a month.[1]
  • Sloths come down from their trees to poop only about once a week.[1]
  • Two kinds of blue-green algae grow in a sloth's fur.[1]
  • Sloths are surprisingly good swimmers.[1]

Vocabulary

algae
Simple plant-like living things that grow in water or damp places.
digestion
How the body breaks down food so it can be used.
nocturnal
Active at night and resting during the day.
rain forest
A thick forest that gets a lot of rain all year.
logging
Cutting down trees for wood.

See it in person

These zoos had this animal when we gathered our information, but animals sometimes move. Check the zoo's website or contact the zoo before you visit.

Sources

  1. [1] Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. “Linnaeus's two-toed sloth.” https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/two-toed-sloth (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Choloepus didactylus (Linné's Two-toed Sloth).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4777/47439542 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Sloths and Anteaters

Giant AnteaterMyrmecophaga tridactylaHoffmann's Two-Toed SlothCholoepus hoffmanniSouthern Three-Banded ArmadilloTolypeutes matacus