Hoffman’s two-fingered sloths (Choloepus hoffmani) are found throughout the rainforests of Central and South America, from Honduras to northern Bolivia.
Paul Cools via iNaturalist under CC BY-NC 4.0
By 2100, sloth habitats could see a temperature increase of 2 to 6 degrees Celsius. Lowland sloths may manage to survive by moving to other areas, but those already residing in mountainous areas have no geographical room to escape rising temperatures. For these high-altitude sloths, a significant metabolic strain means they may not be able to survive.
“Unlike some species, sloths are creatures of habit, highly specialized in their habitat, and are not suitable for translocation to other regions,” Cliffe says to Newsweek. “If their environment becomes too hot, their survival is unlikely.”
The researchers acknowledge that their climate model was basic and perhaps didn’t fully account for errors and uncertainties. Still, they predict that even a slight rise in temperature could force high-altitude sloths into a situation where they need to balance their energy input and output. And, as they say in the study, “this option appears biologically implausible for sloths due to their slow digestive rate and constantly full stomach.”
“Our work highlights the vulnerability of sloths to a warming world,” Cliffe tells the Independent. “If we don’t take urgent action to protect these species, we risk losing them forever.”
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Filed Under:
Central America,
Climate Change,
Costa Rica,
New Research,
Sloths,
South America,
wildlife
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Publish date : 2024-09-30 08:35:00
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