The Extraordinary Laziness of Sloths

The term Sloth is synonymous with the word slow, and sloths definitely live up to that definition.

These creatures often hang motionless in the trees of tropical rainforests, and they are known as the world's slowest mammal—so leisurely that algae grow on their furry coats.

Amazingly, sloths are capable of sleeping up to 20 hours a day.

Contrary to their sleepy reputation, however, sloths only snooze for about 10 hours.

Sloths are extremely slow-moving creatures.

They're so lethargic that it can take up to a month to completely digest a single leaf! But their speed isn't the only thing that's slow—sloths are known to have the slowest metabolism of any mammal, which is why they don’t have an enormous appetite.

Even when awake, they often remain perfectly still.

In fact, they move so little that two species of algae have evolved to grow on their fur, providing them with excellent camouflage.

Indeed, these placid animals are extremely impressive in their inactivity..