Comments on: Swimming Ground Sloths

By: Sordes

Sordes — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:35:02 +0000

Some months ago I have seen a Thalassocnus skull at the NHM Karlsruhe, Germany. I was really amazed how small it was, only about the size of a medium sized dog. Ground sloths were not all giant monster, some of them were only very small.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:42:07 +0000

Never thought sloths would be fast enough to successfully swim under water and complete a task like eating. I have seen footage of a tree sloth swim a piranha infested pool and survived. The reason was because it moved so slow that unless it has an open wound, the piranhas think it is just a branch or something that’s not food. Some think that the lichen and such that regularly grow on most sloths might also have something to do with it, may even repulse the piranhas.

By: Fhqwhgads

Fhqwhgads — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:11:32 +0000

According to Wikipedia, Megalonyx lived all the way up into Alaska. Taking into account that the climate is a good deal warmer than when the megafauna were alive (or prominent, if any survive), it seems unlikely that cold would be a serious problem for them.

I’d like it if there were some surviving ground sloths, and there are a few sightings that could just possibly be sloths, but it’s really hard to see how a breeding population could survive without being discovered. Maybe sasquatch have the intelligence to remain hidden, but it’s unlikely ground sloths would see any point in hiding — the adults at least were too big for predators to risk a confrontation.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:41:48 +0000

I’m willing to believe some of the sightings may indeed be these magnificent “sloths”—but not all of them.
Were they strictly confined to tropical climates and/or South America?

Because if they were, it would not necessarily explain their presence in colder, more northern climates, like Scotland or Vermont (i.e., Nessie and Champ).

Most (not all) of the reports also describe an elongated, serpentine body—which is NOT quite what we see here.

Like I said, may explain some but not all sightings.

Good post as always, Loren. Thanks. Never knew these creatures existed.

By: CryptoInformant 2.0

CryptoInformant 2.0 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:34:29 +0000

Wow – I didn’t even know that thing existed, to be honest. Pretty cool, and it would be interesting to find some that are still living.

By: Fhqwhgads

Fhqwhgads — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:51:04 +0000

Interesting. It could explain a “horse-like head”. And maybe the Beast of Bray Road was a juvenile ground sloth; ground sloths seem to have been at least occasionally bipedal, and a young one might look somewhat wolf-like.

By: seandavis928

seandavis928 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:48:09 +0000

I have seen video of sloths swimming, very strange looking moving so slow in the water. Never heard of the aquatic ground sloths before, very cool and creepy.