The suborder Folivora includes sloths, which are arboreal Neotropical xenarthran mammals. They spend the most of their life hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South and Central America, and are known for their sluggish movement. The xenarthran order Pilosa, which includes them, is thought to be the most closely related to anteaters.

Bradypus (three–toed sloths) and Choloepus (two–toed sloths) are the two genera of extant sloths. Despite their common name, all sloths have three toes on each rear limb, despite the fact that two-toed sloths only have two fingers on each forelimb. Both groups of sloths come from different, distantly related families, and their morphology is thought to have evolved in parallel from terrestrial ancestors.

Many species of ground sloths, some as large as elephants (like Megatherium), lived in both North and South America during the Pleistocene Epoch, in addition to the present species. However, they went extinct approximately 12,000 years ago, along with the rest of the New World’s large-bodied creatures, during the Quaternary extinction event.

The extinction coincides with the introduction of humans, although climate change is also thought to have had a role. The Greater Antilles used to be home to an endemic radiation of Caribbean sloths. They featured both terrestrial and arboreal species that went extinct after humans arrived in the archipelago approximately 6,000 years ago.

Because of their slow metabolism and methodical actions, sloths get their moniker. Sloth, which is linked to slow, literally means “laziness,” and its common names in other languages (for example, French paresseux) similarly imply “lazy” or something similar. Their slowness allows them to eat a low-energy diet of leaves while avoiding being seen by predators hawks and cats.

Sloths are nearly useless on land, yet they can swim. The shaggy coat has grooved hair that is home to symbiotic green algae that both camouflages and feeds the animal in the trees. The algae also feeds sloth moths, some of which are only found on sloths.

Sloths are members of the Xenarthra superorder, a group of placental mammals thought to have originated 60 million years ago on the continent of South America. Xenarthrans split from other placental mammals approximately 100 million years ago, according to one research. Anteaters and armadillos are also members of the Xenarthra family.

Arboreal herbivores with strong vertebral columns, joined pelvises, stubby teeth, and tiny brains were the first xenarthrans. Sloths belong to the order Pilosa’s taxonomic suborder Folivora. These names are derived from the Latin words ‘leaf eater’ and ‘hairy.’ The anteaters are the only other suborder of Pilosa, which is one of the smallest mammalian orders.

The common ancestor of the two current sloth taxa is thought to have lived around 28 million years ago, with similarities between the two- and three-toed sloths being “one of the most remarkable examples of convergent evolution known among mammals.” The ancient Xenarthra had a considerably larger range of species and a much wider spread than modern Xenarthra. Ancient sloths were primarily terrestrial, and some of them grew to be as large as elephants, like Megatherium did.

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