We hate to break it to you, but the affable grin on this pale-throated sloth is probably not due to its laid-back lifestyle. Our adorable tree hugger looks content thanks to its facial mask and the natural shape of its mouth. Spotting one of these slow-moving solitary animals takes a little skill. The thick outer layer of a sloth"s coat is an ideal growing medium for green algae, which forms a natural camouflage in the canopy of tropical forests here in northern South America. If you do spot a pale-throated sloth it will likely be enjoying a simple meal of leaves, limbs, and tree buds. Because sloths don"t have incisors, they spend most of their waking hours smacking their lips together "to chew" their food. This would drive most animals to starvation (if not culinary madness), but the sloth"s metabolism is so slow that it"s evolved to survive on less food.
Meet the slowest flirt in the animal world
Today in History
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A little bit of Wonderland in New York City
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A Welsh wonder turns 70
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Children at play for International Day of Friendship
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Martin Luther King Day
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Happy New Year! (Again!)
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Wandering Watkins Glen
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High above the reef
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Celebrating World Wildlife Day
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Siblings Day
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Going head-to-head with winter
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Who left the tub running?
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Dyavolski Most
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A glittering diamond in the rough
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The Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve in Siberia, Russia
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A Bengal tiger in Ranthambore National Park, India
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Castle ruins on the island of Halki, Greece
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FOR FOREST by Klaus Littmann
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Burrowing owls
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Black History Month
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These patterns tell a story
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The otherworldly red river
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A most sincere pumpkin patch
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The Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy
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A Festivus for the rest of us
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Northern hawk-owl
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Arctic fox in Norway
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Roman theater of Cartagena, Spain
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A tree amid the Tetons
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Thomas Edison s bright idea
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A Great view from above