Slow and steady wins the race: What is the slowest animal in the world?
In fiction, comparing animal speeds dates to ancient folklore like the famous Aesop fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The story involves a hare challenging a tortoise for a race as it mocks the tortoise for its lackadaisical pace. During the race, the hare falls asleep in a stint of overconfidence while the tortoise keeps going and wins. The adage "Slow and steady wins the race,” emerged from the fable-turned-bedtime-story.
In reality, some animals live life in the slow lane due to their inherent metabolism and genetic makeup. According to National Geographic, “they move slowly to evade predators’ sight.”
What is the slowest animal in the world?
The three-toed sloth is one of the slowest animals, according to treehugger.com. World Animal Protection reports that sloths crawl at a pace of one foot, or 30 centimeters, a minute. But since sloths spent most of their time in treetops, they can travel no more than 125 feet or 38 meters in a single day.
National Geographic says that sloths are so slow that algae grows on their fur, camouflaging them among the treetops and making them masters of disguise.
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What animal is slower than a sloth?
While sloths are the slowest mammals in the world, you might want to know if there are other critters as slow or perhaps, even slower than a sloth.
Water invertebrates Sea Anemones are slower than sloths, according to a-z-animals.com. Sea Anemones are typically still and attached to rocks or coral underwater. And even if they move, they use their pedal disc to slowly shift along the surface they’re attached to, moving about 1 centimeter an hour, according to a-z-animals.com.
What’s slower — a snail or a sloth?
Moving at "a snail's pace” is a common idiom for slow, lethargic movements but how slow are snails compared with sloths?
According to World Atlas, sloths travel roughly 38 meters (41 yards) on average per day while snails move 45 meters (50 yards) per hour. Snails leave a trail of mucus when they move, Dudley Zoo reports— this helps them glide forward in motion. Snails also have a foot which helps them move.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the slowest animal in the world? The sloth or the snail?
