--- title: Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In Zootopia, Flash the sloth stamps papers so slowly that a whole queue waits, and Mr Big, a tiny shrew, rules a gang of --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predato… # Zootopia: real sloths, shrews, predators and prey Lesson 142 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 14 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/0/) — In Zootopia, Flash the sloth stamps papers so slowly that a whole queue waits, and Mr Big, a tiny shrew, rules a gang of polar bears. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/1/) — Real sloths are slow for a good reason: their leafy food gives very little energy, so they save every bit by moving slowly, keeping a low body temperature and hanging from hooked claws instead of holding themselves up. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/3/) — Think of a nature film at a waterhole: hundreds of zebras and only a few lions, all drinking while the lions are full. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/5/) — Sloths eat leaves that give little energy, so they move slowly, have small muscles and a low body temperature, and can take a whole day to digest a meal. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/6/) — Long curved claws hook over branches, so a sloth can hang upside down for hours, even asleep, without tiring. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/7/) — Sloths are good swimmers and swim faster than they move on land; a sloth can hold its breath for up to about 40 minutes. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/8/) — Green algae grow in sloth fur and give camouflage among leaves, and moths live in the fur too. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/9/) — A sloth climbs down about once a week to go to the toilet on the ground; scientists are not sure why, and it is the most dangerous time of its week. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/10/) — Shrews are tiny fierce hunters of insects and worms; their small bodies lose heat quickly, so some eat their own weight in food every day, and a shrew can die if it goes a day without food. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/11/) — The smallest shrews weigh about as much as a paperclip or two, while an elephant weighs several tonnes, millions of times more. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/12/) — Many predators, such as cats and owls, have eyes in front to judge distance; many prey, such as rabbits and deer, have eyes on the sides to see all around. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/13/) — In nature there are always far more prey than predators, because each predator needs to eat many prey animals: the Serengeti has millions of wildebeest but only a few thousand lions. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/14/) — Predators and prey sometimes drink near each other, and zebras watch lions closely but run only if the lions come towards them. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/15/) — Real predators hunt to eat, not out of anger or meanness, and many fail more hunts than they win. - ← previous: [Zootopia: real foxes and rabbits](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/141-zootopia-real-foxes-and-rabbits/) - next →: [Bambi: real deer, rabbits, skunks and owls](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/143-bambi-real-deer-rabbits-skunks-and-owls/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)