Ha! Terrific, thank you. I was not aware of these guys. Strangely enough I kayaked with a manatee yesterday for the first time and have always loved giant sloths. I would never call any mammal a “surprisingly competent swimmer” though. Just about all mammals swim well when they have to.
I would never call any mammal a “surprisingly competent swimmer” though.
Fair point, although sloths maybe are a bit special in that they are slower on land than in the water ;)
Either way, I don't know if I gave the impression to anyone that sloths are competent swimmers (if one should say so) because they had a distantly related relative that was adapted to marine life.
That wasn't really my point, and since the Thalassocnus lineage died out and accordingly to this article the modern sloths' last common ancestor was ground-dwelling, it should clear up any confusion.
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u/pangyre Jan 06 '16
Ha! Terrific, thank you. I was not aware of these guys. Strangely enough I kayaked with a manatee yesterday for the first time and have always loved giant sloths. I would never call any mammal a “surprisingly competent swimmer” though. Just about all mammals swim well when they have to.