Choloepus didactylus

– Least Concern

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

ANIMALIA

Phylum:

CHORDATA

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

PILOSA

Family:

MEGALONYCHIDAE

Scientific Name:

Choloepus didactylus

Species Authority:

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Name/s:

English

—

LINNÉ'S TWO-TOED SLOTH, SOUTHERN TWO-TOED SLOTH

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

LC ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2006

Assessor/s:

Meritt, M. & members of the Edentate Specialist Group

Evaluator/s:

Sechrest, W. (Global Mammal Assessment) & da Fonseca, G.A.B. & members of the Edentate Specialist Group

Justification:

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, its occurrence in a number of protected areas, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

History:

1996

Data Deficient (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	This species ranges through Venezuela (delta and south of Río Orinoco) and the Guianas south into Brazil (Maranhão State west along the Rio Amazonas/Solimões) and from here west into the upper Amazon Basin of Ecuador and Perú. It ranges from sea level up to 2,438 m (Britton 1941).
Countries:	Native: Brazil; Colombia; Ecuador; French Guiana; Guyana; Peru; Suriname; Venezuela

Population

Population:	In Suriname, has been found at densities of 0.9 animals per ha (Tauber et al. 1999). It is not as abundant as Bradypus tridactylus in Manaus, and was found at densities of 12.50 animals per km².
Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

It is found in tropical moist lowland and montane forest.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.5	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
1.6	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland
1.9	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane

Threats

Threats:

There are no major threats to this species.

List of Threats:

0	No threats (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

It is present in many protected areas.

List of Conservation Actions:

3.2	Research actions - Population numbers and range (needed)
3.3	Research actions - Biology and Ecology (needed)
4.4.2	Habitat and site-based actions - Protected areas - Establishment (in place)
4.4.3	Habitat and site-based actions - Protected areas - Management (in place)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Adam, P.J. 1999. Choloepos didactylus. Mammalian Species 621: 1–8.

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Emmons, L.H. and Feer, F. 1998. Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, Second Edition. A Field Guide. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Engstrom, M., and Lim, B. 2000. Checklist of the mammals of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

Gardner, A.L. 1993. Order Xenarthra. In: D.E. Wilson & D.M. Reeder (eds) Mammal Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Second Edition. pp: 63–68. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

Gardner, A.L. 2005. Order Pilosa. In: D.E. Wilson & D.M. Reeder (eds) Mammal Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Third Edition. pp: 100–103. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Hall, E.R. 1981. The Mammals of North America, Second Edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA.

Pacheco, V., de Macedo, H., Vivar, E., Ascorra, C.F., Arana-Cardó, R. and Solari, S. 1995. Lista anotada de los mamíferos peruanos. Occasional Papers in Conservation Biology 2:1-35.

Tirira, D. 1999. Mamíferos del Ecuador. Publicación especial Nº 2, Museo de Zoología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.

Citation:	Meritt, M. & members of the Edentate Specialist Group 2006. Choloepus didactylus. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 August 2008.
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