Lucy Cooke: Sloths! The strange life of the world's slowest mammal
In books, TV shows and even an annual sloth calendar, Lucy Cooke shares unexpected truths about animals. Full bio
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about my animal muse:
of the world's slowest mammal
about an animal that's born
that speaks of sin
has no place amongst the fittest
that we've got this animal all wrong --
the truth about the sloth
we both call home.
conquistador called Valdés,
in his encyclopedia of the New World.
that can be found in the world ...
or one that is more useless."
about Valdés's drawing skills.
of a sloth that's more useless.
a remarkably humanlike face,
humanlike faces.
I think looks a lot like Ringo Starr.
resemblance to the The Beatles.
with Paul, actually, on there.
sloths are also extremely successful.
and there were once dozens of species
which was the size of a small elephant
to eat avocado pits whole
(Laughter)
totally bereft at breakfast.
and they fall into two groups.
three-toed sloths,
and the Mona Lisa smiles.
between a Wookiee and a pig.
of Central and South America,
that was done in the 1970s
numerically abundant large animal.
of the mammalian biomass.
something very right indeed.
the sloth for being different,
in our quest for quick.
is choking us and the planet.
the "Ferrari of the animal kingdom,"
in three seconds flat.
but at the expense of strength.
to tougher predators like hyenas.
approach to dinner.
to be eaten any more than antelope do,
and very hard to digest.
had to become an athlete --
is a four-chambered stomach
digestion rate of any mammal.
to process a single leaf,
to process those toxins.
very hard at work.
have little calorific value,
as little energy as possible.
of a similar-sized mammal
as 100 calories a day,
than any other mammal,
through 270 degrees
with the effort of moving their body.
surprisingly good swimmers.
than they can move on land,
that don't do flatulence.
into their bloodstream
as a sort of mouth fart.
saves further energy.
of a terrestrial mammal.
of the extensor muscles
to pull themselves along.
and a high fatigue resistance,
like a happy, hairy hammock
in this inverted position.
are uniquely adapted
against the force of gravity.
from crushing their lungs.
the opposite direction,
after a tropical drenching.
if you turn a sloth the other way up,
as if mountaineering on a flat surface.
the early explorers like Valdés
the wrong way up and out of context.
mesmerized by moving sloths.
their strength or agility.
move like "Swan Lake" in slow mo --
which is not uncommon.
of digesting leaves avoid being eaten?
of the sloth's main predators.
of up to 50 miles per hour,
the slightest leaf rustle.
has poor hearing, bad eyesight,
is clearly not an option.
an invisibility cloak
that attract moisture
gardens for algae,
a host of invertebrates.
miniature ecosystem.
their movements are so slow,
of the monstrous harpy
scanning for action.
the safety of the canopy --
at the base of a tree.
has long been a mystery,
as to why they do it.
scented messages for potential mates.
silent, solitary creatures,
and scream for sex.
will get the male's attention.
of the kiskadee flycatcher.
at the top of her lungs.
will carry for miles across the canopy,
a slow path towards her.
will help send Romeo up the right tree
scaling the wrong one.
that sloths do swiftly.
with in a matter of seconds.
a constant warm body temperature.
for the tropics to keep that heat in.
one of the reasons
recover from injuries
from a double amputation,
that have managed to survive
may well be key to surviving extinction.
who were studying mollusks
predicted which species of mollusk
in one shape or another
is their slothful nature.
Appreciation Society
their slow, steady, sustainable lives.
a lot about slowing down.
leaf out of their book.
that can be found in the world."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lucy Cooke - Zoologist, author, explorerIn books, TV shows and even an annual sloth calendar, Lucy Cooke shares unexpected truths about animals.
Why you should listen
Lucy Cooke is a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning documentary producer, presenter and National Geographic explorer with a master's in zoology from Oxford University. She is a passionate conservationist and champion of animal species that are often misunderstood. Her style is immersive, journalistic and unashamedly populist, mixing expert storytelling with a dash of humor to reach the widest possible audience. She began her presenting career hosting Freaks and Creeps for National Geographic, a show about strange species that get overlooked in favor of charismatic megafauna, and has hosted numerous shows for the BBC.
Cooke has a particular soft spot for sloths and founded the Sloth Appreciation Society to promote a greater understanding of their lazy lifestyle. She has produced a number of iconic viral sloth videos, Meet the Sloths, an award-winning international series for Animal Planet, two best-selling books -- A Little Book of Sloth and Life in the Sloth Lane -- and an annual calendar featuring her sloth photographs.
Cooke's latest book, The Truth About Animals, was shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society prize and the AAAS young adult science prize. Nature calls it a "deeply researched, sassily written history of the biggest misconceptions, mistakes and myths we've concocted about the animal kingdom, spread by figures from Aristotle to Walt Disney."
Lucy Cooke | Speaker | TED.com