Giant Sloth

“Sloth is the popular name for any individual of the Edentate group Tardigrada, from their slow and awkward movements on the ground, owing to the peculiar structure of the wrist and ankle joints. The feet are armed with long claws, and turned toward the body, so that the animal is compelled to rest on the side of the hind foot, while the disproportionate length of the fore-limbs causes it to rest also on the elbows. It shuffles forward, alternately stretching the fore legs and hooking the claws into the ground, or grasping some object to draw itself along. Sloths are natives of South America, nocturnal in habit, and are found in the forests of that region, passing their lives among the branches of trees, on the leaves and young shoots of which they feed."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

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