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Fun read! It still surprises me no predator has been able to somehow take advantage of this evolutionary gap. You'd think one of the predators mentioned in the
by kaon_ 2y ago
Fun read! It still surprises me no predator has been able to somehow take advantage of this evolutionary gap. You'd think one of the predators mentioned in the article would evolve a different way to the detect them.
Then again, something similar probably happened many times in evolutionary history, and the victim species died out as a result. So if one of those predators would exist, we wouldn't have sloths. I guess this leaves them vulnerable to invasive species?
- amelius 2y agoTurtles aren't particularly fast either ...
- cess11 2y agoLeatherbacks can do 30 km/h sprints and they are very good at doing quick turns.
- jvanderbot 2y agoI do not understand the downvotes. I watched a half-meter-wide snapping turtle spend all day trundling its way to the water this spring. It looked like one of those world war 1 tanks. Of course, it had the armor of a tank and a 20 cm neck with a bolt cutter for a mouth.
- shellfishgene 2y agoIt's not like they never get eaten by predators, as the article says. It's only that they need ot shift the balance far enough in their favor to not die out, like by improving camouflage.
- ajnin 2y agoThe article also mentions that they have relatively little muscle mass, so maybe it is more rewarding to catch say a regular monkey rather than a sloth. Evolutionary traits usually come with a tradeoff, and if a predator evolved to be able to catch sloths more easily it might make them less able to catch the juiciest prey, so overall it might be more worthwhile to focus on the other animals and leave sloths off the table, so to speak.