#maned sloth

Maned sloth (Bradypus torquatus) Also known as: ai

The maned sloth is now found only in the Atlantic coastal rainforest of southeastern Brazil, although it was once also found further north. The maned sloth earns its name from a mane of black hair which is usually larger and darker in males than in females. Like all other sloths, the maned sloth has very little muscle mass in comparison to other mammals its size. This reduced muscle mass allows it to hang from thin branches.

Classification Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Eutheria - Atlantogenata - Xenarthra - Pilosa - Folivora - Bradypodidae - Bradypus - B. torquatus

Maned Sloth

Bradypus torquatus

Unidentified artist, 1626

"This drawing was probably copied from a painting which Cassiano [dal Pozzo] saw in Madrid in 1626. The original artist presumably working from a preserved specimen to reconstruct its appearance worked on the reasonable assumption that it would have stood upright like other mammals."

Maned Sloth (Bradypus torquatus)

Also known as the ai, the maned sloth is a species of three-toed sloth found only in the Atlantic coastal rainforest in southeastern Brazil. Like all sloths the maned sloth is diurnal and spends 80% of its day asleep, during the rest of their time they are either travelling or eating. Maned sloths are folivores (leaf eaters) and feed on the leaves of Cecropia and other trees. Unlike other sloths the maned sloth has a 'mane' of black or gray fur that runs down its shoulders, and lacks the patches of bright fur that other sloths have. Due to its limited range, hunting, and the threat of habitat destruction the maned sloth is currently listed as vulnerable. 

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Mammalia-Xenarthra-Pilosa-Folivora-Bradypodidae-Bradypus-torquatus