PILOSA

The order Pilosa includes the sloth (suborder Folivora), anteater and tamanoir (suborder Vermilingua). Sloths are arboreal and have great difficulty moving on the ground. Their front legs are longer than their hind legs, they have syndactyly (webbed toes), and their teeth lack incisors and canines. Sloths have a very slow metabolism and poor thermal regulation. Their fur is notable for containing symbiotic green algae, giving it a greenish tinge in places. The symbiosis is mutualistic, i.e. both the algae and sloths benefit from this symbiosis. The algae find a suitable habitat to grow in the skin and hair of sloths, which take advantage of the greenish tinge to camouflage more effectively. Anteaters and tamanoirs have a fairly long, tubular snout with a small, toothless mouth containing a very long, sticky tongue that expands and retracts rapidly. The shape of their mouth is an adaptation to a diet consisting exclusively of ants and termites. They have highly developed front claws that allow them to open termite mounds or logs to find food.