Key Identification Features
- Sloth bears are usually around the same size as Asian black bears, but are immediately distinct due to their shaggier coat, whitish claws, and typically rangier build.
- Their head and mouth is highly distinct from that of an Asian black bear, with a longer, narrower skull shape (especially the snout), loose-looking, flappier lips, and a paler muzzle color.
- The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus (Raffles, 1822)) gets its common name from its distinctive orange to cream-coloured, crescent-shaped chest patch.
- annamiticus, described from Annam in 1901, is not recognised as a distinct species and is treated as a junior synonym of H.
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