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Pale-throated Sloth

Bradypus tridactylus

Description:

Pale-throated sloths have a rounded head with a blunt nose and small external ears. The limbs are long and weak, with the arms being nearly twice the length of the hind limbs. The hands and feet each have three digits, armed with long, arched claws, with the middle claw being the largest and most powerful. The body is covered with coarse guard hairs up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long, with a finer undercoat. Green algae live mutualistically between the microscopic scales on the surface of the guard hairs, giving the sloth a somewhat greenish appearance that serves as camouflage. Adults are blackish-grey over most of the body, with darker patches distributed over the backs, shoulders, and hips. Males have a bright yellow or orange patch on the back, divided by a central black stripe.

Habitat:

Living in the trees of Parque Del Este (Parque Generalisimo Francisco De Miranda ) Near Cerro del Avila a big mountain chain near Caracas. Venezuela. These sloths are wild and free.

Notes:

I knew there were some wild sloths in the park as a friend had spotted one coming down to poop once! So I wanted to see one and kept my eyes on the top of the trees. After 40 minutes or so I kind of said longingly "Wouldn't it be great if I just would see a....THERE IS ONE!" And here I saw the little one coming down the trunk of the tree. I thought it was much smaller then I expected. We slowly moved closer and it was hanging really low on the last branch of the tree! It nearly fell on our head. We decided to sit down and observe him/her. Then other people came and said that it was a baby. They normally are much bigger. After a while we saw another one in the same tree (and later even 4 more!) but this one was amazing to watch. He kept taking "the wrong turn"and ending on "dead end" branches, he then would find his way back to connecting trunk and try another branch. His memory does not seem to great because he would end up taking the same branch several times in a row! :-) But you could see him calculating distances and movements. It was so fantastic to see. We stayed under the tree for about two hours, sometimes looking at the other sloths as well but always coming back to this lovely "wild" child! He did not seem to be looking for food (although looking at his face he did have some :-)) just "running" through the tree!

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6 Comments

Muckpuk
Muckpuk 2 years ago

Hi Liz113

I only just now saw your reply.
I am sorry it took so long.
Took it out of the mission as you requested.

Liz113
Liz113 6 years ago

Great shot! However, why is this in the “Life and Mathematics” mission? I think it might not quite fit with the purpose of that mission. It would be helpful to the mission if you removed it and added it to a more fitting mission. Thanks! :)

Muckpuk
Muckpuk 7 years ago

How exciting AshleyT!!! Thank you for the honour!

AshleyT
AshleyT 7 years ago

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!

Muckpuk
Muckpuk 7 years ago

Thank you AntónioGinjaGinja

Beautiful series Muckpuk,congrats and thanks for sharing

Muckpuk
Spotted by
Muckpuk

Caracas, Distrito Capital, Venezuela

Spotted on Jan 3, 2017
Submitted on Jan 6, 2017

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