Brown-throated three-toed sloth
Amazing fact
Algae growing on the sloth’s fur can give it a greenish appearance.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Algae growing on the sloth’s fur can give it a greenish appearance.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Brown-throated three-toed sloth
- Scientific name
- Bradypus variegatus
- Japanese name
- ノドチャミユビナマケモノ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Pilosa
- Family
- Bradypodidae
- Genus
- Bradypus
This page covers Bradypus variegatus, one of the three-toed sloth species.
It spends much of its life in the canopy of tropical forests in Central and South America.
It eats flowers and fruit as well as leaves.
How the Brown-throated three-toed sloth lives
It is active both by day and by night. It gets most of its water from the plants it eats. It sleeps with its eyes closed while hanging from a tree.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- average 60 cm
- Weight
- 3.49–5.19 kg
- Lifespan
- 30–40 years in the wild
- Active
- By day and by night
- Diet
- Leaves, flowers and fruits of trees in the genus Cecropia
- Range
- South America and southern Central America
Where the Brown-throated three-toed sloth has been recorded

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ノドチャミユビナマケモノ
- 简体中文
- 褐喉树懒
- 繁體中文
- 褐喉樹懶
- 한국어
- 갈색목세발가락나무늘보
- Español
- Perico ligero
- Français
- Paresseux à gorge brune
- Deutsch
- Braunkehl-Faultier
- Português (Brasil)
- Preguiça-comum
- Italiano
- Bradipo variegato
- العربية
- كسلان بني الحنجرة
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Tauta leher-cokelat
- Русский
- Бурогорлый ленивец
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Bradypus variegatusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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