Slow-moving sloths will struggle to adapt quickly to climate change – new study

By Heather Ewart, Postdoctoral Researcher, Evolutionary Biology, University of Manchester

Sloths are more vulnerable to the rising temperatures associated with climate change than other mammals, due to their unique physiology.

In a new study, my colleagues and I found that sloths’ ability to adapt to warming temperatures varies between the cooler, high-altitude and warmer, low-altitude forests of Costa Rica.

Unlike most mammals, sloths do not actively regulate their body temperature. Like reptiles, they rely heavily on ambient temperature to do so. This affects all aspects of their survival, including…

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