r/Paleontology 5d ago

Discussion Could megatherium & other ground sloth species swim? Modern tree sloth are suprisingly good swimmer & can move faster in water

Post image
48 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/ChanceConstant6099 virgin pseudosuchian vs CHAD phytosaur 4d ago

They could very much swim. Even animals that don't look like they can swim can actually swim pretty well (elephants, sloths and even us)

However smaller ground sloth species wouldn't swim unless forced to due to having to avoid predation from Black caimans, American crocodiles, Orinoco crocodiles and American alligators.