According to the San Diego Zoo sloths were much bigger thousands of years ago. In fact, ancient sloths could grow to be as large as an elephant. Those giants roamed North America and became extinct around 10,000 years ago. And it was could Megatherium which is greek and mega means “great”, and therion means “beast”. was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths endemic to South America, sometimes called the giant ground sloth.

Megatherium lived from the Early Pliocene through the end of the Pleistocene. Among land mammals, its size was exceeded by only a few other species, including mammoths and the much older Paraceratherium.

During the Pliocene, the Central American Isthmus formed, causing the Great American Interchange, and a mass extinction of much of the indigenous South American megafauna. Ground sloths were largely unaffected and continued to thrive in spite of competition from the northern immigrants. Ground sloths were among the various South American animal groups to migrate northwards into North America, where they remained and flourished until the late Pleistocene.

Ground sloths belong to superorder Xenarthra, a group of South American origin which also includes extinct pampatheres and glyptodonts, as well as living tree sloths, armadillos and anteaters.

Sloths are fascinating creature. For the record they are tropical mammals that live in Central and South America. They use their long claws to hang onto branches while they feast on the leaves that other animals can’t reach.

There are two categories of sloths. The two-toed sloth is slightly bigger than the three-toed sloth, though they share many of the same features. They are about the size of a medium-sized dog at around 23 to 27 inches (58 to 68 cm) and 17.5 to 18.75 pounds (about 8 kilograms).

Here are 12 interesting facts about sloths!

1. Sloths are clumsy on land but are great swimmers.

2. Sloths are arboreal animals, so they spend most of their time in trees.

3. Sloths only urinate/defecate once a week.

4. Contrary to their reputation, sloths only sleep about 10 hours a day.

5. Sloths defecate and urinate at the same place every time and because of this they are vulnerable to predators.

6. Algae grow on their fur, which camouflages them green.

7. Sloths diets consist mostly of leaves which gives them minimal energy and nutrition.

8. Sloths’ primary predators include eagles, snakes, and jaguars.

9. Sloths can retain their grip after death.

10. Three-toed sloths can turn their heads almost 360 degrees.

11. Sloths are nocturnal animals.

12. Sloths have up to four-inch-long claws used to hold onto tree branches.