When the ground was too boring, this 'monster' began to learn the ancestors of whales and went to the sea to live.

South America has a long coastline on the east and west, mainly with two countries on the west coast bordering the Pacific Ocean, namely Peru and in the north and Chile in the south. The coastal deserts of Peru are also where archaeologists discovered the Pisco Formation, which was formed about 15 million to 2 million years ago. This is also the formation where archaeologists discovered countless strange paleontology and among them there is a very strange mammal.

The fossil of this unique marine mammal was first discovered in the 1990s, according to the initial judgment of paleontologists, this animal belongs to the giant ground sloth genus - Megatheriidae, in which megatherium species is the most famous. In 1995, paleontologists named this ancient creature Thalassocnus, or the sea sloth monster.

After the sea sloth monster was named, paleontologists discovered more fossils of the sea sloth monster in Chile and southern Peru. So far, paleontologists have named a total of 5 species of sea sloth monsters.

Where to find sea sloth monster fossils in South America.

The size of the sea sloth monster was much larger than that of modern sloths, where the smallest species was more than 2 meters long and the largest species could be up to 3.3 meters.

Body size comparison between sea sloth monsters and humans.

The sea sloth monster has a long head and a flexible upper lip in front of its upper jaw that can shred food and put it in its mouth. In the mouth of the sea sloth there are two rows of strong teeth, this type of teeth indicates that they are only used to chew plants, which also shows that the sea sloth is a typical herbivore. Compared to the head, the sea sloth monster's body is relatively strong and quite heavy, very suitable for diving.

Recreate the skull of the sea sloth monster.

The sea sloth monster's limbs are long and powerful, with large curved claws on the fingers, which can be used as a defensive weapon. Through fossil analysis, it can be seen that this animal moves very slowly when on land, but when underwater, the story is completely different, they are extremely flexible.

Thalassocnus is an extinct genus of semi-static ground sloth from the Miocene and Pliocene of the South American Pacific coast. It is a monopod in the subfamily Thalassocninae.

As mentioned above, sea sloth monsters are herbivores, their food is seaweed and flowering plants that grow on the seabed. Sea sloth monsters usually stay on the beach to rest and only come into the sea when they are looking for food. Compared to their ancestors 3 million ago, sea sloths have gained 20% of their bone weight, which makes it easier for them to dive longer.

Sea sloth monsters are herbivores.

They are the only known aquatic sloth. Thalassocninae are extremely special animals because they are placed in both the Megatheriidae and Nothrotheriidae families.

Under water, the sea sloth monster not only swims on all fours, but also propels its body forward by flapping its flat tail behind. Upon reaching the seabed, the sea sloth's powerful limbs become "anchors". Although it has the ability to cling to the seabed, when it encounters big waves, the sea sloth beast will still be swept away and sometimes will be dropped onto the heavy reef, as evidenced by the discovery of many fossils of sea sloth monsters. impact fracture.

For sea sloth monsters, strong winds and waves are not a real danger

Thalassocnus evolved a number of marine adaptations over the course of 4 million years, such as thick and heavy bones to resist buoyancy, inner nostrils moving further toward the head to help breathe when fully submerged, The snout becomes wider and longer for better aquatic plant consumption, and the head points further downwards to aid bottom feeding. The long tail was probably used for diving and balancing similar to today's beavers.

However, for sea sloth monsters, strong winds and waves are not a real danger, because when they go foraging, terrible dangers in the ocean also arise. Many ferocious predators roamed the oceans of prehistoric western South America - home to many ancient sharks, toothed whales, most notably the Acrophyseter sperm whale. Although Acrophyseter sperm whales are not large, they travel in groups and have two rows of thick teeth in their mouths, apparently designed specifically for hunting sea sloths.

Acrophyseter sperm whale hunting sea sloths.

The sea sloth's extinction did not in fact come from predators, but instead, it began with an important geological event. About 3 million years ago, the ocean between North and South America closed, and the two continents joined together. It was because of this incident that the warm ocean currents flowing from the Caribbean Sea onto the west coast of South America disappeared, and ocean temperatures began to drop. This has resulted in marine plants being unable to continue to grow and develop and lead to a food crisis for sea sloths. At the same time, the sea sloths lack a layer of body fat, so they are not able to resist the temperature drop and freezing of the sea, going to the sea to feed has become a torture.

It was because of the crisis caused by falling ocean temperatures that the sea sloth monster finally disappeared 3 million years ago. The sea sloth monster appeared 7 million years ago, and after 4 million years, it finally disappeared completely due to the amalgamation of the environment.