Choloepus hoffmanni
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth

C. hoffmanni ranges over Central and South America from Nicaragua to Peru and central Brazil.

Two-toed sloths inhabit tropical forests.

The pelage has two types of hairs, long guard hairs and short underfur. The hair is structurally unique among mammals. The hair varies in color from dark brown to pale yellow, though the algal symbionts can tinge the hair green. The limbs are relatively long and the forelimbs are slightly longer than the hind legs. The forefeet have two digits which are tightly bound with skin. The hind feet have three digits. All digits have long, hook like claws used for suspension from branches. C. hoffmani has five teeth in each upper jaw quadrant and four in each lower jaw quadrant; the exact homologies of the teeth remain unclear. Two-toed sloths have six to eight cervical (neck) vertebrae. The stomach is complex in order to increase the efficiency of digesting vegetation. Average weight is 5.7 kg. Head and body length ranges from 540 to 700 mm.

Sloths are largely arboreal and hang upside down in trees. Essentially all normal activity--eating, sleeping, mating and giving birth--occurs hanging upside down. An exception to this is urination and defecation, which does occur on the ground. Movement is slow, both in trees and on the gound. Females tend to associate in groups, but males are typically solitary. Females outnumber males by as much as 11:1. Activity is almost entirely nocturnal and even crepuscular activity is uncommon.

C. hoffmanni is a somewhat generalized arboreal herbivore and eats a variety of leaves, twigs and fruit. Sloths may also derive nutrition by absorption or ingestion of algae that grow in the hair.