15 Cute Sloth Pictures That Will Make You Squel With Delight

Sloths are some of the most interesting species living in the tropics. These animals mainly live in trees and are known for moving at a very slow and languid pace. In fact, their speed (or lack thereof) earned them their name! They travel only about 41 meters a day and have an extremely slow metabolic rate. However, that does not mean sloths are lazy bums. They’re actually some of the cleanest creatures around.

It takes sloths 30 days to digest a leaf. Sloths have the lowest metabolic rate of any mammal, which means that it takes them a long time to digest anything. They have an incredibly large and permanently full four-chambered stomach, which can account for up to 30% of their body mass. In two-fingered sloths, this over-sized stomach is supported by 46 ribs (23 pairs) which is more than any other mammal.