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October 17, 2026 Fact of the Day Mammals Sloths can take up to a month to digest a single leaf. By Kristina Wright For a sloth, there’s no such thing as rushing through lunch — in fact, a sloth can take up to a month to process just one leaf through its digestive system. Their leafy diet is low in calories and difficult to digest, so they’ve evolved a slow metabolism and a digestive system that allows food to remain in the gut for a remarkably long time. Microbes help break down tough plant fibers and unlock nutrients and energy from the leaves they eat. That slow digestion fits with the sloth’s energy-saving lifestyle. A sloth’s metabolic rate is just 40% to 74% of what would be expected for another mammal of the same body weight. Sloths conserve energy by moving slowly, eating relatively little, and spending much of their time resting. Because food can remain in the digestive tract for weeks, sloths typically defecate only about once a week. But WHY are sloths so slow? True or False? Sloths can swim three times faster than they can move on land. True False Keep Exploring Mammals What Do Adult Koalas Eat? Across Species 7 of the Slowest Animals on Earth Across Species How Do Animals Live in Trees Without Falling? Was this email forwarded to you? Sign Up Advertise Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use 325 North LaSalle Street, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60654 If you'd like to unsubscribe from all Animal Facts emails, click here.