The Thalassocnus: Not Your Average Sloth
Discovered in 1995 by some lucky fossil hunters. Five different species! Lived 7-4 million years ago in Peru.
(And yes, I had to practice saying "Thalassocnus" like 50 times)
Physical Features: Not read
Behavior: Not read
Time Period: Not read
Physical Features
- • Super heavy bones (nature's scuba weights for neutral buoyancy)
- • Paddle-like arms with claws for seafloor locomotion
- • Nostrils moved toward the back of head for surface breathing
- • Flattened ribs to reduce lung volume underwater
- • Specialized jaw for efficient seagrass consumption
What It Did All Day
- • Grazed on underwater seagrass beds (marine ecosystem engineer)
- • Maintained seagrass health through selective feeding
- • Walked on the seafloor using modified limbs
- • Could swim when needed to reach new feeding grounds
- • Evolved to be more aquatic over five distinct species
When It Lived
- • Late Miocene to Pliocene (7-4 million years ago)
- • Coastal Peru during major oceanic changes
- • Filled a unique ecological niche as a marine sloth
- • Extinction coincided with ecosystem restructuring
- • Influenced marine plant distribution in its habitat