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Bradypus variegatus (3-toed)
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| Rainforest Symbiosis |
The peculiarity of sloths isn't limited to
their appearance- they also happen
to be a personification of the phenomenon of
symbiosis (mutual gain from
living together). Their strange fur is
covered with algae (that serves as
camouflage), and full of colonies of
insects, beetles, and even moths.
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Choloepus hoffmanni (2-toed)
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| Sloth Predators |
Sloths are definitely lazy, since they sleep
18 hours per day and they have
a metabolism that's half that of most
animals. While sleeping or hanging
from branches on canopies of trees, they can
be picked out by one of their
predators - eagles. Jaguars also catch them
when they descend from the trees
about once a week to go to the bathroom
(yes, that's right, once a week!)
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| Education
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Literature
& eBooks
Children's Classic Literature by Twain,
Bronte, Fitzgerald, Hawthorne, Thoreau and
more.
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Costa Rica Sloths
The
sloths are very unusual animals, and look like
something from Star Wars or
Dune. They have a flat face and beady eyes, a
strange fur and long arms that
end in menacing claws. In Costa Rica there are two
kinds of sloths: the two-toed
sloth which is nocturnal, and the three-toed sloth
which is active during
the daytime. The Spanish name for a sloth is
perezoso.
§ continued below ...
Sloth Habitat and Diet
Sloths live in the canopy story of the rainforest.
They are arboreal folivores,
which means that they eat the young leaves at the
tops of mature trees.
Tapirs (Dantas)
Besides the sloth,
there are tapirs in Costa Rica. Tapirs or "dantas"
in Spanish, are solitary
creatures that look like a mixture of a pig and a
miniature hippopotamus
with a small trunk instead of a regular nose. They
love to wade in watery
areas such as swamps and to pluck leaves from plants
to eat, which constitute
all of their diet. §
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Tapir - Danta
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Tamandua Anteater
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Tamandua Anteater
Another interesting mammal is the Costa Rican
version of anteater, called
the "Tamandua". It feeds entirely on ants and
termites, and since it doesn't
have any teeth, it swallows the insects which are
ground by sand and gravel
in its stomach. The Tamandua Anteater is our school
mascot. The anteater, the tapir and the sloth, all
seem to be a hybrid
of several animals, which makes them even more
exotic. §
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