For years, scientists believed sloths could not fart. A zoologist has dispelled this myth by documenting a baby Hoffman's two-toed sloth farting while taking a bath. The video proves sloths produce gas as byproducts of their tough vegetarian diet. They rely on gut bacteria to break down leaves, generating methane. Although previously thought to absorb excess methane back into their blood, sloths can release gas in the opposite direction. Despite being unable to burp or vomit, sloths are actually quite gassy, producing more methane than once believed.
The clip shared on Instagram by zoologist and author Lucy Cooke and wildlife veterinarian Andrés Sáenz Bräutigam proves definitively that these adorable animals are just as gassy as any other mammal.
It is true that sloths are unable to burp or vomit, due to their extremely strong oesophagus, but excess gas can clearly escape in the other direction.
Just like cows, sloths' vegetarian diet means that they produce large quantities of gas as a byproduct of digestion.
Although this was an obvious side effect of a sloth's slow digestive system, scientists had thought they couldn't fart due to an odd evolutionary quirk.
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