12/3/2020
Genus Thalassocnus by Oliver Demuth
Millions of years ago there was an enormous mammal that swam the sea. The aquatic giant sloth, Thalassocnus, of the Late Miocene through the Late Pliocene. This megatheriid took to the waters rather than lumbering about on land eating trees. They usually stayed near the coast, eating seagrass and seaweed. They can come up to almost four meters long. There were four species of the sloth: T. antiquus, T. carolomartini, T. littoralis, and T. yaucensis. Thalassocnus directly translates to: “lazy one of the sea”. Over time land-dwelling ground sloths started swimming more and evolved thicker, stronger skulls that help with swimming in dense waters.
What made the sloths want to swim?
What did they get out of swimming that they didn’t have on land?
Did their large size keep them from swimming fast?
So they went from land to water? I wonder what pressure they felt on land that drove them to the sea? They are pretty cool looking but kind of goofy too!