Slow down for International Sloth Day

Sloths move incredibly slowly - less than three meters (9.8 feet) per minute. Their primary form of defense from predators is to remain unseen in the trees. Two-toed sloths can live up to 29 years in the wild, while their three-toed cousins can live upwards of 30 years.

Researchers previously believed the lethargic mammal slept for almost 16 hours a day. However, a 2008 study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Starnberg, Germany found that sloths actually sleep for less than 10 hours a day - not much longer than a human.

The Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica found that sloths can take up to 30 days to fully digest food - the longest rate recorded for any mammal. They also leave the safety of their trees once a week to defecate and urinate on the ground.

Unlike most mammals, who have seven cervical vertebrae, the three-toed sloth has nine - granting them the ability to rotate their heads up to 270 degrees.

Sloth babies will cling to their mothers for one year, learning what to eat and how to find it. Afterwards, adolescent sloths acclimate to independent, solitary lives, only meeting other sloths in order to mate.

Sloth fur often appears green as it is covered in algae and fungi - which helps camouflage them in the trees. Recent studies have also shown that some fungi found in sloth fur could help fight certain against certain cancers and bacteria.

They may move slowly in trees, but some types of sloths are actually very adept swimmers. Using a type of doggy-paddle stroke, sloths can move up to three times faster in the water than they do on land.