. The Ecology of arboreal folivores : a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975 . Figure 4. Contrast between the amounts of leaf which would be digested and defecated per unit time when a sloth ate old and young leaf of the same species. The time at which 50 percent of the leaf had been passed Out of the gut through an integrated com- bination of digestion and defecation is indicated by the black ar- row for each kind of leaf. Figure 5. Contrast between the amounts of leaf which would be digested and defecated p
. The Ecology of arboreal folivores : a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975 . Figure 4. Contrast between the amounts of leaf which would be digested and defecated per unit time when a sloth ate old and young leaf of the same species. The time at which 50 percent of the leaf had been passed Out of the gut through an integrated com- bination of digestion and defecation is indicated by the black ar- row for each kind of leaf. Figure 5. Contrast between the amounts of leaf which would be digested and defecated per unit time when a sloth ate relatively digestible old leaf of Lacmellea panamensis and when it ate rela- tively indigestible old leaf of Hyeronima laxiflora. The time at which 50 percent of the leaf had been passed out of the gut through an integrated combination of digestion and defecation is indicated by the black arrow for each kind of leaf. captive feeding experiment. We attempted to maintain a young three-toed sloth on BCI, by feeding it a diet which alternated between old leaves of Cecropia eximia and old Lacmellea panamensis leaves. The lack of success we had in maintaining the animal in captivity illustrates the problems which a sloth or other arboreal folivore might face if it chose to feed from a tree with relatively indigestible leaves. The sloth was a juvenile, approximately 8 months old on the basis of body size. It thus had probably been socially weaned about 2 months before we cap- tured it (see following). Susan Smith fed and cared for the sloth in captivity. She fed the animal with a spoon 2 or 3 times per day, using leaf which had been dried, ground into meal, and rehydrated im- mediately before each feeding. The rehydrated leaf powder contained 70-80 percent water, and formed a viscous mixture suitable to being fed with a spoon. We quantified the flow of food through the sloth by weighing the leaf which the animal ate at each feeding and by drying and weigh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcolle, booksubjectleaves, booksubjectmammals
