Unfortunately, even though I planned to have the whole couple of weeks off over Christmas and New Year’s, I had to go in for a big day at work today. My experiment was intended to run into January but it ended up being ready to go this week (and I couldn’t leave it). So procrastinating wasn’t an option… Boo.
9.5 hours later and I finished work, and now have another half day tomorrow. Lame. But next week I’m off for a whole week of relaxment. Yes.
Xena is a little bit unpredictable. She can be quiet one minute and full of beans the next! But you can’t help but love her. 
If you like the look of this little sloth, grab it from Amazon.
The name Xena comes from the word “Xenarthra“, the superorder of placental mammals which includes tree sloths as well as their cousins armadillos and anteaters. It means “strange joints”, as the vertebral joints of these animals have extra articulations and are unlike any other mammal (xenarthry).
I know, I know. This sloth is actually called Belt from The Croods. But, well, I like to personalise my sloths with their own unique natures.
On November 20 there was a new arrival at Topeka Zoo in Kansas, USA. A little baby for sloths Jackie and Mocha! See more pics here.
Did you know:
A Hoffmann Sloth like this one (Choloepus hoffmanni) has a gestational period of 11.5 months. This is relatively long compared to other sloth species: the pale-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) has a gestational period of 4.5 months and the pygmy three-toed sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) is 6 months. On average, all sloth species give birth to one baby every year.
Recently, American channel PBS screened a documentary titled “A Sloth Named Velcro” on Nature. Here’s a link to the video if you’re lucky to be in the US… it isn’t available in Oz unfortunately. I managed to get a hold of a copy though and it is fantastic! Very educational, informative, adorable, interesting and of course full of wonderful sloths of all kinds. Even taught me a thing or two.
On a similar note, someone at work found out about my sloth obsession not that long ago. They didn’t even know what a sloth was. Bless. Then today it got brought up by someone else and said coworker says “So, okay, tell me about sloths”. Well. Where do I begin…
The incidence of congenital disorders in the wild sloth population appears to be increasing, and the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica want to do something about it. The deformities have all been similar; missing fingers/toes, malformed ears and misshapen limbs.
The deformities are likely to be a result of inbreeding due to habitat destruction and their subsequent confinement to isolated islands. The Sanctuary is working frantically to save these little babies, but also needs to find out whether a lack in genetic diversity is the cause, so steps can be taken to reduce the effects. You can help out, as I have, by donating here to cover some of the costs of this scientific research.
The Tao of Sloth
What would it be like to be a sloth? Human life would be a blur. Sloths seem to embody a central tenet of Taoism “action through non-action” so let’s consider a “Tao of Sloth”:
Post Credit: BBC News
A day full of seminars today with the School Symposium. Then a dinner meeting with more seminars in the evening. Supervisor was going to come with me tonight but couldn’t make it, so I had to network all on my lonesome. It’s tough! Did a bit of it in Italy at the conference there, so I’ve had quite a bit of practice this year.
Me listening to talks that I just can’t follow:
I’ve had the last 5 days (including the weekend of course) at home, but went back to work today. It was a pretty good day at work actually, I made a slideshow, finished the first draft of my next paper, and most importantly got some good news on something I’ve been working on for a very long time. One more hurdle and it will be a huge step in my career. Watch this space…
Great article on BBC Earth by Henry Nicholls on the “truth about sloths”, including interviews with Rory Wilson and Becky Cliffe who have pioneered the Sloth Backpack Project.
Reputation: Sloths are lazy and stupid. They have to be because they look it. They are covered in algae. Yuck! They climb to the ground to perform a ritual defecation at the base of a tree, a risky business when there are eagle-eyed, fleet-footed predators around. They are bad at crossing roads. Silly sloths.
Reality: Slowness is the ultimate weapon in an evolutionary war against eagle-eyed, fleet-footed predators. What better way to blend in with the forest than to cosy up with algae and fungi. Ritual defecation is the sloth equivalent of speed dating, just without the speed.
A sloth can turn its head almost 180 degrees, as it has an extremely flexible neck.
From the Nature Institute in New York:
The sloth’s neck is not only unique in its flexibility, but also in its anatomy. Mammals have seven neck (cervical) vertebrae. The three-toed sloth usually has nine and the two-toed sloth has between six and nine cervical vertebrae.
