Bradypodidae

Bradypodidae is a family of sloths that includes the three-toed sloths of the genus Bradypus. In modern classifications they are grouped with the two-toed sloths into the superfamily Bradypodoidea, within the order Pilosa and the suborder Xenarthra. Bradypodidae is distinguished from Megalonychidae, the family containing two-toed sloths, by the number of claws on each limb and certain skull features.

Members are small to medium-sized arboreal mammals with slow metabolism and long limbs ending in three curved claws on each limb. Their fur helps camouflage, and their low-energy lifestyle affords minimal processing of leaves. They are nocturnal or cathemeral and typically spend most of their time suspending from branches.

Geographically, Bradypus sloths occur throughout tropical forests of Central and South America, from sea level to montane forests. They depend on dense canopy with a varied supply of leaves. They are generally solitary and territorial, with low daily activity and slow movement, which reduces detection by predators.

Diet is primarily leaves, supplemented by fruit, flowers, and buds. They digest tough foliage with specialized gut microbiota. Reproduction yields a single infant after a long gestation; the young cling to the mother for several months.

The four living species are Bradypus variegatus (brown-throated sloth), Bradypus tridactylus (pale-throated sloth), Bradypus torquatus (maned sloth), and Bradypus pygmaeus (pygmy three-toed sloth). The genus is known from a fossil record dating back to the Miocene, showing a long evolutionary history in the tropical Americas. Many populations are threatened by habitat loss.