History Main / SluggishSloths

* A sketch on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' subverted this. A zookeeper introduces a video made by high school students to teach people more about sloths. The video is a heavy metal video depicting sloths as raucous party animals and violent hoodlums. After the video, the zookeeper says "That's not entirely accurate."
* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'': Played with in the episode "Saber Tooth". The Megatherium, an elephant-sized beast and the largest known species of sloth, moves about as quickly as any large mammalian herbivore at walking speed; not that it really matters, as their sheer size makes them practically invulnerable to predation. However, when a [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Megatherium challenges the Smilodon pride over a carcass]], one of the pair of male Smilodons leading the pride attempts to scare it off. The Megatherium answers by striking the male hard and fast enough that the Smilodon was unable to leap out of the way in time, and as a result was killed instantly. The rest of the Smilodon wisely decide to back off and yield their kill afterwards.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': The DMV is ''entirely'' staffed by sloths. Every action and even conversation is ridiculously slow, turning the whole sequence into an OverlyLongGag. Nick's friend Flash Slothmore is said to be the fastest one there...but the [[DamnedByFaintPraise fastest sloth isn't saying much]]]]. [[spoiler:"Fastest" has nothing to do with his work speed, it's actually a reference to him being a skilled street racer]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'': The DMV is ''entirely'' staffed by sloths. Every action and even conversation is ridiculously slow, turning the whole sequence into an OverlyLongGag. Nick's friend Flash Slothmore is said to be the fastest one there...but the [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative fastest sloth isn't saying much]]. [[spoiler:"Fastest" has nothing to do with his work speed, it's actually a reference to him being a skilled street racer]].

They may sometimes be linked to the SevenDeadlySins. (usually represented as "Sloth").

This extends to their naming. Their German name is Faultier ("lazy animal"), whilst its name is old English for "Slow". The Spanish word for sloth is "perezoso", which also means "lazy".

This is actually TruthInTelevision; sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate, which leads to them moving at a languid, sluggish pace through the trees. Indeed, they, on average, travel 41 yards per day -- which is less than half the length of a football field. They are also poikilothermic, unusual among mammals, so they have to spend much of their time basking in the sunlight to warm up and save energy.

Note that in fiction, the types of sloths featured are usually three-toed sloths; two-toed sloths will rarely ever appear. This could be because three-toed sloths have a more distinctive appearance, particularly the facial "mask" with dark markings around the eyes. If prehistory is involved, the giant ground sloth ''Megatherium'' is quite common, though the smaller ground sloth ''Megalonyx'' may turn up.

This is actually TruthInTelevision; sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate, which leads to them moving at a languid, sluggish pace through the trees. Indeed, they, on average, travel 41 yards per day -- which is less than half the length of a football field. Despite being warm-blooded, they have to spend much of their time basking in the sunlight to warm up and save energy.