How Sloths Went From the Seas to the Trees

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The story of sloths is one of astounding ecological variability, with some foraging in the seas, others living underground, and others still hiding from predators in towering cliffs. So why are their only living relatives in the trees?

Produced for PBS Digital Studios.

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References:

[LexIconLS]

Anyone else want to see an Eons style, full-length documentary about literally anything? Take my money.

[mpisysm]

Sloths know they're old
"we've done everything, let's just not anymore"

[jaridkeen]

I would really like to see the ground digging sloth alive today.

[ArexSant]

Im from Patagonia and i have a petrified claw from one of this animals, found it with my dad near a shore!

[DerpfishsaysNO]

I'm really curious about the evolutionary history of bats. It's been on my mind the past couple weeks, and I'd love to see you guys break it down

[MeleeTiger]

As fun as it is to learn about such amazing creatures and organisms, it always makes me a little sad to know they're gone...
It is neat to see that those tunnels and such are still around even today, that's a hell of a footprint to leave.

[davidabonyi]

"Metabolically challenged" is my new favourite insult.

[blobbertmcblob]

Giant sloth: I am gonna dig myself a home! =D

*14 years later*

I'm finally done. Time to die!

[aitchpea]

Fish: Evolve in the sea.
Also fish: Hey, let's go live on the land.
Mammals: Evolve on land.
Also mammals: Hey, let's go live in the sea.
Sloths: I don't like it here. Going back to the land. Later, whales!
Also sloths: Hmm, this is boring to look at. I wonder if it would look better upside down?

[Googledeservestodie]

The moral of the tree sloth is: slow and steady wins the race but also grows a lot of moss and can get eaten while taking a long poop

[generalleenknassknotretire]

*"THE ATLANTIS SEA SLOTHS"*
Probably the best team of their day.

[ecophreak]

Every time I watch these videos I'm always slightly sad that I will never be able to see the strange ancestors of these creatures in person

[vociferonheraldofthewinter]

One of the biggest evolutionary lessons that I'm learning from watching all these paleontology videos is that bigger is far from better and that too much specialization will eventually mean extinction. I'm starting to think that the common house mouse and the rat will outlive us all.

[tatsugiri]

to show my respect for the sloths, I played this video in 0.25x

[thecatinthebag]

He prottecc

He attacc

But most importantly

He went from the seas to the trees for additional snacc

[Cedarparsnip]

My kiddo is researching sloths for school, and I came across your video. We loved it! He says, "I love the art, the photos, and videos. Thank you!!!

[aquaaria]

"How Sloths Went From the Seas to the Trees"
Me: *and now to the streets*

[PaulPaulPaulson]

I already learned something just from the title and thumbnail!

[Linfamy]

3:13 gotta admit, took me a while to recognize what that was

[jessical]

Modern sloths can still swim! I don’t think that’s related to the ocean sloths, but the fact that even modern sloths are so adaptable is kind of mind blowing.