Interconnectedness of Sloth

INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF SLOTH
From plant life, to animal life, to insects, fungus, and microbial relationships, every which way we can aim our lens, our perspective reveals the interconnected nature of things.
Time, space, place...it was 2014, my second day of 31 @tiputiniusfq.
We were in a boat going downriver to collect river sand for the turtle hatching project. As we rounded the bed we heard a crash and and I met my first Three Toed Sloth. I was so entranced watching the Sloth swim that I didn't even think to raise my camera until they had climbed up into this branch, facing us with what seemed like the grooviest smile ever.
Three Toed Sloths travel to the ground once a week to poo. That's a mighty effort for an animal who may only travel 40m in a day. It's thought that this behaviour is all about the mutualism between the Sloth, the (at least!) 5 species of Sloth Beetle and the endemic Algae living in its hair and fur. Their organs are connected to their ribs so they don't crush their lungs as they hang upside down for hours. They don't thermo regulate....their teeth grow throughout their life.........
There is so much that is special about the Sloth, and much of it is a mystery. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown - over 50yrs and then some.
We do know they need a lot of intact primary rainforest if they are not to go the way of their 2 tonne, 3m long relatives who went extinct 10,000yrs ago.
(audio up for an explanation about Cecropia, one of the trees connected to the Sloth)