Ancient sloths ranged in size from tiny climbers to ground-dwelling giants. Now, researchers report this body size diversity was largely shaped by sloths’ habitats, and that these animals’ precipitous ...

Scientists have analyzed ancient DNA and compared more than 400 fossils from 17 natural history museums to figure out how and why extinct sloths got so big. Most of us are familiar sloths, the ...

Pleistocene ground sloths constitute a remarkable and diverse group of xenarthran mammals that thrived across South America during a period of significant climatic and environmental flux. Their fossil ...

A cooling, drying climate turned sloths into giants – before humans potentially drove the huge animals to extinction. Today’s sloths are small, famously sluggish herbivores that move through the ...

Photo via Toucan Rescue Ranch. Sloths are some of the most interesting animals to have ever graced the earth, and yet they remain quite the unknowable little critters. The group that contains sloths, ...

Fans of the slow-moving sloth are in luck if they're planning to visit Orlando, Florida. Sloth World is slated to open in late February 2026.

Among the greatest mysteries of the tropical rainforest are the pooping habits of sloths. Really. Those furry, slow-moving tree dwellers almost never descend from the safety of the tree tops—except ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Everybody loves sloths, and whenever we talk ...