Treefisher Sloth

Artwork

Weight:
50lbs (male)
44lbs (female)

The **Treefisher Sloth** (*Choloepus aelianusi*) is an original species created and designed by TheAgent41. The Treefisher Sloth inhabits the real world.

## Appearance and Anatomy

The treefisher sloth is a large arboreal mammal native to the tropical rainforests of South America. Through gene sequencing analysis, it was discovered in 2020 that *C. aelianusiis* descended from Hoffman’s two-toed sloth (*C. hoffmanni*). With a full body length (with legs outstretched) of 15 feet, the treefisher sloth is easily the longest and largest known species of arboreal sloth. Adult sloths can reach weights of approximately 50 pounds. Its body is covered in long brown hair except for the area around its muzzle, which is hairless.

The treefisher sloth’s anatomical differences from its ancestor are readily apparent. All four of *C. aelianusi’s* limbs are greatly elongated, particularly the hind legs. The feet on the treefisher sloth are particularly extended, similar to digitigrade animals like horses and theropod dinosaurs. The claws are exceptionally large and are curved like sickles, allowing them to “scoop” prey. The claws on the sloth's hind legs can reach lengths of one-and-a-half feet on average, while the forelimb claws generally measure approximately 6-8 inches in length.

The sloth’s digestive system has evolved to convert digested food into a special type of sticky adhesive substance similar in consistency to syrup or honey rather than typical feces. This adhesive is largely transparent and resembles rubber cement in appearance and consistency.

## Ecology

### Behavior and Intelligence

Treefisher sloths are largely solitary creatures, only interacting with one another during the mating season. When not hunting, treefisher sloths act much like other sloths, hanging upside down from tree branches by all four limbs. When threatened or startled, the treefisher sloth will begin to let out loud screams and will shake around on its branch violently in an attempt to startle predators.

The most famous behavior of treefisher sloths is its hunting method. Treefisher sloths hunt by hanging from branches relatively low in the tree canopy, usually 15-20 feet above the ground. The sloth hangs from a sufficiently low branch by its powerful forelimbs and secretes a long strand of its sticky “fecal glue” that hangs down to ground level and can reach 15 feet or more in length. This glue-like strand emits a powerful odor that smells somewhat like fruit or flowers, attracting small herbivorous animals to it. Unwary animals that try to eat this fecal glue strand will instead find themselves entangled in it, alerting the sloth. The treefisher sloth will then lower its powerful hind legs towards the ground, scoop up the prey animal with its curved hind claws (similar to an arcade’s claw machine game), and pull the animal into the tree canopy, where the sloth will slowly devour it over the course of six or seven hours.

It is believed that this hunting method originated from an adaptation that caused the sloth’s feces to develop a flower or fruit-like smell, which attracted small insects and birds that the sloths could consume, as two-toed sloths are omnivorous. This eventually developed into a tendency for the sloth to defecate and then wait by the feces intentionally and ambush insects that were attracted to the aroma. Over thousands of years, the sloth’s digestive system developed the ability to convert waste products into the sloth’s current glue strands.

### Diet

like all other sloths, the treefisher sloth is a Omnivorous creature. While it can its diet with fruit and leaves in extreme circumstances when its main food source is low, it primarily feeds on Fruits Leaves Nuts Flowers Plants small ground-dwelling creatures and birds. Animals that commonly fall prey to the treefisher sloth are Deers birds and peccaries. These sloths have been recorded lifting prey as heavy as 20-25 pounds, owing to their powerful limbs.

### Reproduction

The only time when treefisher sloths interact with one another is during the breeding season. Males let out loud Growling sounds to attract females. The females generally prefer those who can scream the loudest because they are likely more capable of scaring off predators. When it is time to mate, the male and female will both secrete long strands of their fecal glue and spread their glue on their respective partner's fur. They then give their partner a bath of sorts by licking them, using their saliva to mix the glue into the fur. This combination of saliva and fecal glue acts as an aphrodisiac, heightening each sloth's respective sexual drive.

After a gestation period of eleven months, the female sloth will give birth to a single offspring. The male sloth will then abandon the mother and child, leaving the mother to raise the baby by itself. At birth, treefisher sloths are nearly hairless and don't have the enlarged hindlegs treefisher sloths are known for. It is only as they grow older that their hindlegs develop into the enormous limbs.

Baby treefisher sloths, due to their normal-sized hindlimbs and inability to produce fecal glue, are unable to hunt for themselves and must rely on the catches of their mothers.

## Trivia

* The treefisher sloth’s specific name, *aelianusi*, is a reference to Claudius Aelianus (also known by the mononym Aelian), a 2nd-century Roman author and teacher generally credited for being the first recorded individual to participate in fly fishing.
* The sloth is referred to in terrified hushed tones by local native tribes as "the tree that hunts men".

## Gallery

Artwork