#394 Ground Sloths

 Fun Fact #394

Sloths of Terror

Sloths have an interesting quirk of their Clade where they have 30% less muscle mass than other mammals their size yet have more than 3x the strength of a human –all while having greater control at only 40% the metabolism! This is due to the trait “Xenarthry” in which the spine and bones have more points of articulation and larger tendons placed more frequently along their limbs which is why anteaters can break concrete. 

While modern sloths only have the extra articulation points, their ancestor Megatherium most likely took this trait as far as it could go. With some Megatherium getting up to the size of modern elephants eating primarily large fruits like avocados but also using their claws to kill and eat anything foolish enough to threaten them. They are one of the only creatures capable of killing cave bears. 

Today xenarthry and the mammals with it, are being studied by robotics companies such as Kuka for the possibility of adapting their bone structure to create lighter, and more efficient load bearing arms.

(Image of Megatherium with some Glyptodonts taken from Wikimedia)