#395 Sea Sloths

 Fun Fact #395

Sea Sloths

More than 23 million years ago as the first kelp forests came into existence a strange creature could be found in the shallow coasts of modern South America grazing on the seagrass which grew there. This was Thalassocnus, the only known genus of semi-aquatic sloth and would use its long claws to rip up the seafloor filling the same position in the ecosystem as modern manatees. An interesting development is over their history they were fast evolving to become more whale-like.

Their longer snout, platypus-like tail, and other aquatic features made them particularly hard to classify only having been identified as related to sloths back in 2017. Sadly it’s believed that the evolution of a megafaunal sperm whale called Acrophyseter hunted the sea sloths into extinction. Yet the Sloths would have their revenge as when the Panama Isthmus formed it prevented the movement of warm water drastically cooling the pacific side killing off all species of megafaunal Sperm Whales.