Pygmy Sloth
Three-Toed Sloths are native to Central and South America, but the Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth (Bradypus pymaeus) only lives on a 2.6 square mile island off Panama named Isla Escudo de Veraguas. The island is similar to the Galapagos, with many biologically diverse animals that mostly exist solely on a small island. The sloth is the slowest land mammal in existence, and lives a sedentary lifestyle. The critically endangered population of pygmy sloths is recorded at less than 100 today. They face threats from poachers who kill them and sell the pelts of these slow moving creatures, and loggers who encroach on their small island. Seeking mangrove wood, the loggers cut down the tree that is a pygmy sloths only food source. Adapted only to live on this island, the pygmy sloth are an example of a much wider problem that plagues the Central American rainforest. Like the millions of unique species living in the rainforest, the lives of these teddy bear-like animals are in our hands. Humans can save these animals, by protecting their lands, and ceasing to consume natural resources vital to them. For more information, goto an informative BBC video about the pygmy sloth, here. Since that video was published in 2008, over 100 sloths have died due to human interference. (Hance, n.d.) (Pygmy three toed sloth, n.d.)Photo by Bryson Voirin, Mongabay.com.
Sloths as an ecosystem
Three toed sloths have a complex symbiotic ecosystem consisting of organisms that live within their fur. These sloths move so slowly that algae grows on them and provides camouflage and a food source. This algae is eaten by a species of moth (the pyralid moth,) that only lives in the Sloth's fur. The moth releases nitrogen that allows the algae on the sloth to prosper. The sloth travels to the rainforest floor from its treetop perch once every week to defecate, which allows the moths to lay eggs in the sloth's feces. This is a mutualistic relationship which the sloths, algae, and moths have developed over tens of thousands of years. Much like the Central American rainforest, the sloth's abiotic factors (its fur) is home to biotic organisms. (Wade, 2014) Diagram from the New York Times here; the diagram is credited to Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
This diagram illustrates the cycle from sloth, to moth, to algae.
This diagram illustrates the cycle from sloth, to moth, to algae.