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Cliffe RN, Haupt RJ, Kennedy S, Felton C, Williams HJ, Avey-Arroyo J, Wilson R. The behaviour and activity budgets of two sympatric sloths; Bradypus variegatus and Choloepus hoffmanni. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15430. [PMID: 37273542 PMCID: PMC10234273 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023] Open
Abstract
It is usually beneficial for species to restrict activity to a particular phase of the 24-hour cycle as this enables the development of morphological and behavioural adaptations to enhance survival under specific biotic and abiotic conditions. Sloth activity patterns are thought to be strongly related to the environmental conditions due to the metabolic consequences of having a low and highly variable core body temperature. Understanding the drivers of sloth activity and their ability to withstand environmental fluctuations is of growing importance for the development of effective conservation measures, particularly when we consider the vulnerability of tropical ecosystems to climate change and the escalating impacts of anthropogenic activities in South and Central America. Unfortunately, the cryptic nature of sloths makes long term observational research difficult and so there is very little existing literature examining the behavioural ecology of wild sloths. Here, we used micro data loggers to continuously record, for the first time, the behaviour of both Bradypus and Choloepus sloths over periods of days to weeks. We investigate how fluctuations in the environmental conditions affect the activity of sloths inhabiting a lowland rainforest on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and examined how this might relate to their low power lifestyle. Both Bradypus and Choloepus sloths were found to be cathemeral in their activity, with high levels of between-individual and within-individual variation in the amounts of time spent active, and in the temporal distribution of activity over the 24-hour cycle. Daily temperature did not affect activity, although Bradypus sloths were found to show increased nocturnal activity on colder nights, and on nights following colder days. Our results demonstrate a distinct lack of synchronicity within the same population, and we suggest that this pattern provides sloths with the flexibility to exploit favourable environmental conditions whilst reducing the threat of predation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca N. Cliffe
- The Sloth Conservation Foundation, Hayfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
- Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
- The Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica, Limon, Costa Rica
| | - Ryan J. Haupt
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States of America
| | - Sarah Kennedy
- The Sloth Conservation Foundation, Hayfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
| | - Cerys Felton
- Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah J. Williams
- Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
- Migration Department, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
| | | | - Rory Wilson
- Swansea Lab for Animal Movement, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
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