WEBVTT - 9 Sloth Facts Worth Clinging To 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:01.960 Guess what will? What's that man? Go? Did you know 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:05.480 that slots are really good swimmers? I actually didn't know that. 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:07.960 I mean, I've seen photos of them in water, and 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:10.360 even though I've seen slots in person, we got the 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.520 chance to go to Costa Rica, I never saw them 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.200 doing their the little doggy paddle, and I saw them 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:17.480 doing on the video. Yeah, I mean, they definitely look 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.640 cute but not particularly graceful. But I was actually shocked 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.760 to learn they're actually really strong swimmers. And apparently they 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.720 moved three times as fast and water as they do 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.520 on land, which I know isn't great, but it's an improvement. Yeah, 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.720 I guess so. And also they can hold their breath 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.519 underwater for forty minutes. No, that's impressive. Yeah. But my 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.560 favorite thing I learned is that because they're so slow 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.400 to move on land, sometimes slots will just dive bomb 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.040 from a tree limb that's overhang over some water, just 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:44.960 so that they can shorten their commute to the pool. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.720 Isn't that great? It's pretty impressive. And that's just one 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.120 of nine facts we've got on today's show about slots. 0:00:50.280 --> 0:01:11.399 Let's dig in. Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:13.319 As always, I'm joined by my good friend Man Guesh 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.440 Ticketer and sitting behind the soundproof glass thumbing through an 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.720 old copy of Ranger Rick. That's our Brendon producer Tristan McNeil. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:22.440 Has been a while since I've seen a copy of up. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.520 And we were supposed to have Gabe on the line, 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:28.320 as we often do for nine Things, but Gabe is 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:30.920 home with a pretty nasty cold. That's the first time 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.440 he's called in sick. Yeah, well, we wish him well, 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.679 but actually he sent me his facts. He decided to 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:38.720 go ahead and do the research, but he said he'd 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.360 sound a little too stopped up if he were to 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.800 join us. So I'm gonna play the role of Gabe today. 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:45.600 All right, here we go. So can I start us 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.400 off as well? I'm gonna start us off as me good. 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.480 All right, here we go. My first fact that I found. So, 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:55.600 you know one thing, these mini Chewbaccas aren't slow at 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.680 We've talked about how slow they are, but not at mating. 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.639 And actually, according to Public Radio, the whole mating ritual 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.760 is done in about five seconds, and that includes the 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.919 four plays. So you're probably wondering, how does this work, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:10.840 you know, in case your parents didn't teach you about 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.639 the birds and the sloths. The female sloth barks out 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.080 of scream when she's in heat, and then the male 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.400 slots come racing over to court her, or race as 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.320 fast as they can't. There's they're slots. They're not swimming over. 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.280 So but the slots are so good at sex, or 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.760 or at least productive at it, that at the Slot 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.160 Sanctuary in Costa Rica, Slot sex is the one thing 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.400 that's actually forbidden. They're too good at it, and the 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.160 sanctuary does not need any more babies. That's so ridiculous. 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.560 That's pretty good, all right, Gay, What do you have next? 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.760 Oh well, I'm Gabe and here's my next fact. So 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:49.000 if you love avocados, you should thank a sloth. According 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.000 to Smithsonian, giant ground sloughs used to roam the earth 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:56.080 during the Cenozoic era, and the creatures were massive, about 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.959 the size of ups trucks actually. But the creatures love 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.040 the avocado, and along with a few other massive animals 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.200 like mammoths, they would eat the fruit whole for a snack. 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.959 Then they would deposit the seed miles away as they traveled, 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.320 all of which helped to keep the avocado around. I'll 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:14.919 remember to thank us lot the next time I see 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.079 one pretty good fact from gay, don't you think? Yeah? 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.400 Great reading? All right, Okay, so I've got another fact 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.880 for you. So I'm sure you know this, but early 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.440 descriptions of this slot weren't favorable at all, and according 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.400 to Atlas Obscura, one of the early nineteenth century natural 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.639 history books, described them as I've got the quote here, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:37.080 imperfect monsters of creation, equally remarkable in their disgusting appearance 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:41.360 and helpless condition. Pretty rough. And while there's leny of 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.320 debate over whether slots are cute or not, I mean 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.640 you see all sorts of debate on the internet, one 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.720 thing you can't dispute is how they smell, which is good, really, Yeah, 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.000 because there's such slow moving creatures, they actually don't need 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.200 sweat glands, and not stinking is actually useful to them 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.560 because it keeps predators off their scent. Yeah. So, so 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.600 you're probably wondering what do they actually smell like? And 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.280 answer is trees. Mostly they just pick up the scent 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.800 of wherever they're at, which means their fur gets coated 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.920 in tree staff And basically they smell like air freshener. Wow, 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.680 that's pretty good. But actually it leads into my next 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.480 fact because while they might smell good, I do need 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.280 to remind you they are covered in algae. Sometimes you'll 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.760 see them turn the kind of this greenish tint, and 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.000 especially during the rainy season, And it's because they're basically 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.120 part of the trees. But the algae does have some 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:35.159 benefits to the sloth. It it kind of helps them camouflage. Also, 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.200 slows occasionally snack on the algae as a quick treat, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.560 and they might even absorb the nutrients from the algae 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.480 into their skin. But that said, the algae isn't the 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.400 only thing hanging out on the sloth, so moths sometimes 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.000 live in there fur as well. That's pretty good. Alright, Gabe, 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.479 your next fact? Okay, Well I'm Gabe, and my next 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.640 fact goes like this. While they are definitely slow moving, 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.279 wild slots aren't in the same category as koalas those 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.240 lazy beast sleep eighteen hours a day. Also, I do 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.920 just want to say, because slaws tend to be slow moving, 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.920 when they move, it's it's pretty efficient. They're always calculating 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.320 the fastest way to get somewhere so that they don't 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:16.719 need to backtrack as they go, you know, maybe forty 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.280 from one tree top to another. But back to the 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:24.320 sleepy part about them, slaws only sleep about nine hours 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:26.880 a day in the wild, which isn't that much more 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.440 than most humans. And for the record, this is a 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.560 fairly recent discovery, coming in the last decade or so, 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:36.080 when some scientists put brain caps on them to monitor 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.920 their brain waves. And that said, what once slaws are 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.440 living the good life in captivity, they do tend to 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.159 take advantage of the situation and taking a few more 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.240 hours of rest. I like that fact. Game All right, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.200 thanks for what's your next one? So, uh, this is 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.560 what I thought was pretty funny. Slots have all sorts 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.680 of strange biological features, right, They have these conical teeth. 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.800 They're related to armadillo and ant eaters, but according to 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.680 bo Boing, their family tree diverge from those lines about 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.480 seventy to eighty million years ago. But the weirdest thing 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.599 to me about them is that they really don't get 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.440 fat in a traditional way. So this is again from 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.520 boo but most mammals have fat tucked around their bodies, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.360 but when a slot gets obese. They hold that extra 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.279 weight and fat deposits in their feet. In their feet, 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.920 you know that they got fat feet something kind of like. 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.760 It's both cute and disgusting at the same time, and 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:28.600 useless fat fat, it's fun to say. That's all right. Well, 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.200 I know we've talked about this before, but no discussion 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.320 of sloth biology is complete without a little discussion of 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.560 their pooh dances, which I know we've both seen videos 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.000 of before, and and slots, which which kind of live 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.039 in this natural state of constipation. At least according to 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.279 the Washington Post, they shimmy down their trees once a 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.800 week to pooh, but the way they do it is 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.400 pretty funny. So they sort of cling to the tree 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.320 and shake their hips, slowly dancing it out of their 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.400 system in one slow, long co of it. But the 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.040 big question is why don't they just go from the trees, 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.560 especially when leaving the tree is actually a dangerous activity 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.000 for them. That's when the eagles plucked them off for 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.280 other predators tend to notice them. But there are a 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.880 few theories why so. Some people think it has to 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.880 do with mating and attracting a mate to a particular tree. 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.080 Some people think it has to do with the moths 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.160 on their bodies, because the moths lay eggs in their feces. 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.480 But personally, I think the sloth just enjoys a little 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.440 dance party of lave. You know, I just need to dance. 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:32.520 I don't know, pooh, I guess. So that's my last fact. Okay, Gay, 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:35.600 time to close it for us. Here we go last one. Well, 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:37.960 this is a little off topic, but I'm sure you 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.840 remember the characters Sloth from the Goonies Las. Yeah. Well, 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.280 if you're wondering what happened to him after the movie, 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:46.480 which I know we all have wondered at some point, 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.440 the IMDb has you covered. According to the novelization of 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:54.080 the movie, Chunk's parents adopted Sloth and even through him 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:59.040 a bar mets, so he's truly a man. Now that's 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.560 not a great fact, mean, Gabe closing the show with 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.240 a great fact about one of my favorite movies as 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.360 a kid. So I feel like we need to give 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.920 him the trophy. Yeah, so, Gabe, if you're listening, feel better. 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.160 Thank you for the fact, and we'll be back tomorrow 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:25.160 with another episode.