There is no preserved land left within the Atlantic forest, according to the study. Peak activity took place in the early morning and late afternoon hours. Females rested significantly more than the males and infants rested 79 percent of the time on average. The sloths spent an average of 75 percent of their time resting. Rest was still the dominant activity, even in a highly disturbed environment. A number of factors can influence a sloth's tendency toward diurnal or nocturnal activity, including temperature, competition and the threat of predators. Sloths spend a majority of their time at rest - up to 90 percent in some cases. "We did not expect to see such clear and distinct diurnal behavior." "In all other studies, sloths have been found to be nocturnal or cathemeral," Duffield said. The research, led by Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes at the National Institute of Amazonian Research, is unique in that researchers not only monitored sloths in a highly disturbed setting but their behavior - rest, travel, movement, feeding and grooming - was observed over a complete 24-hour cycle. Previous studies have focused sloth activity in undisturbed forests. "With less competition for food and fewer predators these animals developed a more synchronous pattern of activity." "These environmental disturbances are in no way an ideal scenario from a conservation perspective but the results - fewer predators, easier access to primary food sources - clearly had a positive impact based on our observations," said Giles Duffield, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, and a co-author of the study. ![]() ![]() ![]() While deforestation, development, intentional fire setting and nighttime hunting have been detrimental to various tree and animal species, brown-throated three-toed sloths may benefit in shifting from nocturnal tendencies to becoming primarily daytime active. The results, published in the journal Mammalian Biology, present a unique take on the impact of human activity in the area. Researchers recorded the sloths' behaviors and circadian rhythm during the course of 29 days. The study was conducted in a highly disturbed section of the Atlantic forest, in Northeastern Brazil.
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