Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins. There are millions of different animal species across the world and each one has something special that separates it from the rest.
And it is almost unbelievable to say that Sloths can hold their breath for longer underwater than dolphins. Let’s find out more about this fascinating assertion.
Facts about Sloths
Sloths are the undisputed pull-up world champions — from the moment they are born sloths can lift their entire body weight upwards with just one arm.
Not only that, but sloths have 30% less muscle mass than similar-sized mammals and are over three times stronger than the average human.
They have a highly specialized muscle arrangement that can produce enough strength to withstand the force of a jaguar trying to rip them from the tree.
Specialized tendons in the sloth’s hands and feet are locked into place, allowing them to hang upside down for long periods without wasting any energy.
This unique locking mechanism is also how sloths can sleep while hanging from a tree branch, and they have even been known to remain suspended upside down after death!
Unlike most mammals, sloths have sacrificed the ability to control their body temperature to save energy.
Instead, they are completely reliant on environmental conditions, and their core temperature can fluctuate over 10°C during the course of a single day!
If they get too cold, the special microbes that live in their stomachs can die, and the sloth can no longer digest the leaves that it eats.
Although they spend most of their time in the trees, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers — they can swim through water three times faster than they can move on the ground!
Three-fingered sloths have two more neck vertebrae than any other mammal, allowing them to turn their heads through 270° and effortlessly keep their nose above water when swimming.
Facts about Dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins are one of the few species, along with apes and Humans, that can recognize themselves in a mirror.
This is considered ‘reflective’ of their intelligence. Dolphins are also among the few animals that have been documented using tools.
In Shark Bay in Western Australia, dolphins fit marine sponges over their beaks to protect them from sharp, harmful rocks as they forage for fish.
Dolphins have some of the most elaborate acoustic abilities in the animal kingdom. They make a variety of sounds including whistles, clicks, squawks, squeaks, moans, barks, groans, and yelps.
When hunting dolphins produce bubbles to herd their prey to the surface. They sometimes also use a hunting technique called ‘fish-whacking’, where they use their tail to hit fish and so stun them – making them easier to catch.
Marine Dolphins
There are 36 species of marine dolphins – living in nearly all aquatic environments, including oceans, coastal, estuarine, and freshwater – and in temperatures ranging from less than 0°C to more than 30°C.
In Britain, bottlenose dolphins are concentrated around west Wales and eastern Scotland – with the coasts of Devon and Cornwall also having pods.
Scotland is home to the most northerly pod of bottlenose dolphins in the world.
Marine traffic around the British Isles is amongst the most intense anywhere in the world.
Noise pollution from naval activity, the oil and gas industry, seismic surveys, and underwater construction can stress and injure cetaceans.
It also severely interferes with their ability to communicate, reproduce, navigate, and find prey – sometimes proving fatal.
Bottlenose dolphins are usually fairly slow swimmers, traveling at about 2 mph. However, they can reach speeds of over 30 mph for brief periods!
Sloths with Toes
Sloths with two toes have been suggested by an estimate saying that they can hold their breath for upward of 40 minutes.
This makes sloths better at conserving oxygen than even some marine mammals like dolphins, who can hold their breath for just 15 minutes max.
Sloths are masters of living life in the slow lane. These tree-hugging mammals, split into two-toed and three-toed varieties, travel only about 125 feet a day — so slowly that moss and algae grow on their fur.
This lethargic lifestyle is a survival strategy suitable for their slow metabolisms and low-calorie diets, which are mostly based on tree leaves.
Three-toed sloths have the slowest metabolism of any mammal (followed closely by pandas and two-toed sloths).
Their sluggish metabolism, as well as their ability to slow their heart to one-third its normal rate, give sloths an unexpected superpower — they can hold their breath for an impressively long time.
Sloths frequently avoid predators by holding perfectly still so that the predators don’t see them.
Add in their impressive breath-holding skills, and you find that they are even better equipped to avoid predators–not only will the predators not be able to see them, but they won’t be able to hear them breathing!
In addition, sloths are very good swimmers, and they frequently need to hold their breath when going for a swim.
Sloths have many predators, and any time they come down from the trees, they are at a greater risk of being hunted.
They may need to stay underwater for extended periods to avoid being seen by predators–and the longer they can hold their breath, the longer they can stay underwater and avoid drawing unwanted attention.
How are Sloths able to hold their breath for so long?
When a sloth needs to hold its breath, it can slow its heart rate down by about a third. This way, the sloth uses less energy and, thus, does not need to breathe as frequently.
Impressive, right? But did you know that a sloth’s breathing skills aren’t limited to holding its breath underwater?
Sloths are also able to breathe while hanging upside down for hours because their lungs are “taped” to their ribcage using specialized ligaments.
These ligaments keep their lungs in place so they don’t become squashed;
that way, the sloth doesn’t have to work any harder to breathe and they can save precious energy, allowing them to maintain the same position for hours on end.
Dolphins need to breathe quite frequently, sometimes as much as 4 to 5 times per minute.
They can, of course, hold their breath for longer periods as needed, and the length of time they can hold their breath varies from species to species.
Generally, though, even the most deep-diving dolphins can’t hold their breath for more than 15 to 20 minutes. This is less than half the length of time that sloths can hold their breath.
Dolphins have higher metabolisms than sloths, and they expend more energy with their activities. For this reason, they require a greater oxygen intake than the slow-moving, energy-saving sloths.
Conclusion
Sloths are excellent swimmers because of their breathing technique which is aided by the design of their lungs, but it can also help them when they’re not in the water anytime they need to avoid drawing the attention of predators.
