What Were Ancient Sloths Like?

For more sloth videos, check out Sloth Week at http://www.slothweek.com

Sloths are adorable, and they've been around for thousands of years! What did ancient sloths look like? Tara breaks down some prehistoric sloths, and discusses why they're so interesting!

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #SlothWeek

Read More:
xenarthran
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/748529/xenarthran
"xenarthran (magnorder Xenarthra), an ancient lineage of mammals comprising the armadillos (order Cingulata) and the sloths and anteaters (order Pilosa)."

The sloth's prehistoric ancestor
http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/9107/the-sloths-prehistoric-ancestor/
"Sloths are proverbially lazy -- in the rainy season they camouflage themselves with mould rather than move."

Big Kill, Not Big Chill, Finished Off Giant Kangaroos
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hunters-killed-off-big-animals-australia/
"Around 40,000 years ago, the giant kangaroo disappeared from Australia."

How Aquatic Sloths Adapted to Their New Life in the Sea
http://www.wired.com/2014/03/extinct-aquatic-sloths/
"For four million years, Peru's ocean shores hosted several species of large aquatic sloths."

Ground Sloths: Giants of the Ancient World
http://weirdanimalreport.com/article/ground-sloths-giants-ancient-world
"Normal tree sloths are weird enough as they are. With their round, marble-like eyes, big pink snouts and curved, long-nailed claws (resembling the "god's" claws in the movie 10,000 BC) all topped with a mop of long hippy-blond fur, there's definitely no other creature alive who looks like a sloth."

Secret to Ancient Sloths' Aquatic Lives Found
http://www.livescience.com/44023-aquatic-sloths-had-dense-bones.html
"Millions of years ago, aquatic sloths roamed shallow waters off the coast of modern-day Chile and Peru."

Jefferson's Megalonyx
http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2742
"In 1797, at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson commented on a remarkable set of bones that had been sent to him recently."

Watch More:
Sloth Week Is Here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXdwXu6kbBg&list=PL0q-1t9bVnpNe3Fs9no-fNvbCpuG4G-d7

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