Sloth Adalh 5 Tahun

Punya berbagai macam pertahanan dari ancaman predator lain

Beruang sloth ternyata benar-benar beradaptasi agar dapat bertahan di lingkungannya yang juga terdapat predator alam lain seperti harimau, serigala, maupun beruang hitam Asia. Tidak hanya pada anatomi tubuh, bahkan dari kebiasaan pun mereka sesuaikan untuk meminimalisir ancaman dari predator lain.

Mengutip dari laman Wildlife SOS, bagian-bagian tubuh seperti cakar melengkung dan taring besar dari beruang sloth mereka manfaatkan sebagai mekanisme bertahan dari predator lain ataupun untuk mengintimidasinya.

Sedangkan untuk kebiasaan, kendati tergolong jenis beruang yang paling nokturnal di antara saudaranya yang lain, ternyata beruang sloth dapat menyesuaikan waktu beraktivitas mereka agar dapat meminimalisir pertemuan dengan predator lain.

Ternyata di balik tubuh besar dan garang dari beruang ini, masih tersimpan beberapa fakta lucu dan tentunya menarik untuk kita ketahui. Apakah kamu sudah pernah melihat jenis beruang yang satu ini? Bagikan pengalamanmu di kolom komentar, ya!

Baca Juga: 5 Fakta Beruang Madu, Satu-satunya Beruang yang Hidup di Indonesia

IDN Times Community adalah media yang menyediakan platform untuk menulis. Semua karya tulis yang dibuat adalah sepenuhnya tanggung jawab dari penulis.

Berjari Dua dan Tiga

Sloth memiliki dua spesies berbeda yang dapat dilihat dari jumlah jarinya. Penampilan kedua spesies ini sangat mirip, dengan kepala bulat, mata yang tampak sedih, telinga kecil, dan ekor yang gemuk.

Sloth berjari dua memiliki ukuran yang relatif lebih besar. Mereka menghabiskan banyak waktu untuk bergantungan terbalik. Sedangkan sloth berjari tiga memiliki wajah yang terlihat selalu tersenyum. Mereka lebih sering menghabiskan waktunya dengan duduk tegak di cabang dahan pohon.

Sloth Ranges, Then and Now

This map shows some of the important ground sloth finds in the region. Green dots represent Jefferson's ground sloth finds, and yellow triangles represent Harlan's ground sloth finds.

More information on Ground Sloths can be found at the La Brea Tarpits Web site, and at the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum.

Sloth banyak ditemukan di hutan tropis dataran rendah Amerika Selatan dan Amerika Tengah. (Foto: Sloth Conservation)

- Sloth dikenal sebagai hewan termalas di dunia namun jago berenang. Satwa ini termasuk subordo Folivora alias mamalia penghuni pohon yang terkenal karena gerakannya lambat.

Sloth banyak ditemukan di hutan tropis dataran rendah Amerika Selatan dan Amerika Tengah. Ciri-cirinya memiliki kaki panjang, ekor kekar, kepala bulat, dan telinga yang tidak mencolok. Sloth mempunyai penglihatan dan pendengaran yang begitu jelas. Sloth lebih berorientasi pada sentuhan.

Hewan ini memiliki berat sekitar 3,6 - 7,7 kilogram dengan tinggi 0,6 - 0,8 meter tergantung spesiesnya.

What can we do to protect both species?

These extraordinary creatures’ continued existence hinges significantly on our actions today. This involves adopting more sustainable farming practices and endorsing conservation initiatives that safeguard the natural habitats of these animals from further degradation.

You can support organizations working with this species, like Wildlife SOS, founded in 1995; it has a strong track record in India for rescuing wildlife in distress, including sloth bears, elephants, leopards, and others. Free the Bears is an organization that works to rescue and rehabilitate bears in various Asian countries.

Four species of ground sloths inhabited the United States at the end of the last Ice Age. These were Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii), Laurillard's ground sloth (Eremotherium laurillardi), the Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis), and Harlan's ground sloth (Glossotherium harlani). Of these four only two, Jefferson's and Harlan's ground sloths, are found in the midwestern U.S.

Ground sloths were large relatives of the modern two-toed sloths (Choloepus spp.) and three-toed sloths (Bradypus spp.). Unlike modern sloths, which spend most of their time in trees, the ground sloths spent all of their time on the ground. This is fortunate because Jefferson's and Harlan's ground sloth were each about the size of an oxen.

All four species of ground sloth had very large claws. However, all were herbivores. They had relatively small, blunt teeth, which they probably used for browsing on trees and shrubs. The shape of their hip bones indicates that they could stand up on their hind legs. This would allow them to reach high up into trees for the best leaves and twigs.

The picture above shows a reconstruction of Jefferson's ground sloth from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History.

Anatomi tubuh yang unik

Beruang sloth memiliki bulu lebat yang nampak kusut dengan berwarna gelap. Selain itu, pada bagian dada mereka juga memiliki sedikit motif putih berbentuk "V" atau "Y" yang berwarna putih.

Dikutip dari laman National Geographic, bagian moncong berwarna krem dari beruang sloth dirancang sedemikian rupa agar bisa menyesuaikan diri dalam mencari makan. Moncong tersebut berfungsi mirip seperti mesin vacuum yang bisa menyedot maupun meniup tanah secara efektif.

Selain itu, mereka juga dilengkapi cakar melengkung yang berukuran relatif besar untuk ukuran mereka, yaitu sepanjang 3 inci. Tentunya cakar tersebut siap mereka gunakan dalam menghadapi keadaan tertentu.

Sloth bones and claws

All four species of ground sloth had very large claws and small, blunt teeth. They all were herbivores and probably used the teeth for browsing on trees and shrubs. The shape of their hip bones indicates that they could stand up on their hind legs. This would allow them to reach high up into trees for the best leaves and twigs.

The bone on the left is the finger bone (phalanx) that supports the claw on the thumb of a Jefferson's ground sloth. The specimen on the right is a tooth, also from a Jefferson's ground sloth.

Both of these specimens were recovered from Heinze Cave, Jefferson County, Missouri. Radiocarbon dating indicates that both specimens are more than 40,000 years old.

All four species of ground sloth became extinct in North America approximately 10,000 years ago. The reason for their extinction is being studied by paleontologists.

Finally, sloth bears! We seized the opportunity to compare sloths and sloth bears to clarify the confusion surrounding their common names and delve into their lifestyles, the threats they face, and ways we can help in their conservation!

Satu-satunya jenis beruang yang menggendong anaknya di punggung secara rutin

Beruang jenis lain memang beberapa kali tertangkap kamera sedang menggendong anaknya di punggung, namun beruang sloth merupakan satu-satunya yang rutin untuk melakukan kebiasaan ini hingga anaknya berusia 7 sampai 8 bulan, lho.

Dikutip dari laman Wildlife SOS, menggendong anak di punggung akan memudahkan induk beruang sloth untuk mengangkut anak-anaknya dari satu gundukan sarang semut atau rayap ke sarang lainnya. Hal tersebut ternyata juga dilakukan oleh beberapa hewan myrmecophagous lainnya, lho.

Tak hanya itu, dengan menggendong anaknya di punggungnya, induk beruang sloth akan semakin mudah untuk melindungi mereka ketika diserang oleh predator lain seperti harimau.

Memiliki Mata Buta di Siang Hari

Sloth memiliki kondisi yang sangat langka yang disebut sebagai monokromasi batang. Hal ini membuat sloth tidak memiliki sel kerucut di mata mereka. Akibatnya, sloth mengalami

total di siang hari dan memiliki sedikit penglihatan di cahaya yang redup atau malam hari, sehingga sloth banyak melakukan aktivitasnya di malam hari.

Metabolisme Rendah

Sloth bisa mencerna makanannya yang hanya sehelai daun selama 30 hari. Sloth memiliki tingkat metabolisme yang lemah dibandingkan mamalia lainnya. Perut yang terdapat empat bilik sudah penuh secara permanen, yang bahkan bisa mencapai 30 persen massa tubuh mereka.

Group of tree dwelling mammals noted for slowness

Sloths are a Neotropical group of xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. Sloths are considered to be most closely related to anteaters, together making up the xenarthran order Pilosa.

There are six extant sloth species in two genera – Bradypus (three-toed sloths) and Choloepus (two-toed sloths). Despite this traditional naming, all sloths have three toes on each rear limb – although two-toed sloths have only two digits on each forelimb.[3] The two groups of sloths are from different, distantly related families, and are thought to have evolved their morphology via parallel evolution from terrestrial ancestors. Besides the extant species, many species of ground sloths ranging up to the size of elephants (like Megatherium) inhabited both North and South America during the Pleistocene Epoch. However, they became extinct during the Quaternary extinction event around 12,000 years ago, along with most large animals across the Americas. The extinction correlates in time with the arrival of humans, but climate change has also been suggested to have contributed. Members of an endemic radiation of Caribbean sloths also formerly lived in the Greater Antilles but became extinct after humans settled the archipelago in the mid-Holocene, around 6,000 years ago.

Sloths are so named because of their very low metabolism and deliberate movements. Sloth, related to slow, literally means "laziness", and their common names in several other languages (e.g. German: Faultier, French: paresseux, Spanish: perezoso, Romanian: leneș, Finnish: laiskiainen) also mean "lazy" or similar. Their slowness permits their low-energy diet of leaves and avoids detection by predatory hawks and cats that hunt by sight.[3] Sloths are almost helpless on the ground but are able to swim.[4] The shaggy coat has grooved hair that is host to symbiotic green algae which camouflage the animal in the trees and provide it nutrients. The algae also nourish sloth moths, some species of which exist solely on sloths.[5]