When anyone says sloths, the first thing that may pop into our heads is an incredibly slow land animal, usually found hanging from trees.Sloths are well-known for being lazy-looking animals. While the claims mentioned above are entirely true, these adorable fur babies have unique features that are left unnoticed by many.Read this article to learn some facts beyond the fact that a sloth spends its entire life hanging upside-down, even while sleeping. When we say sloths are incredible, we are talking about how their fur coat is a living snack bar for some animals because it grows algae, and that three of the 74 fungi species found in their fur have shown positive effects on some cancers. Sloths can also rotate their heads more than 270 degrees backward, have a digestive system just as slow as their pace and can live up to 40 years in the wild! Similarly, it has also been observed that sloths are quite amazing swimmers, which brings us to the question of how long a sloth can actually hold its breath. Trust us when we say you will not believe the answer!If you want to know some intriguing sloth facts, do take a read of our article about if sloths are endangered and why sloths move so slowly.How long can sloths hold their breath underwater?Sloths are known to be quite good at swimming and their ability to hold their breath for up to 40 minutes is one of the major reasons why these tree-lovers are also great underwater. The reason why they can do so lies in their ability to control their metabolism, which means that they can slow their heart rate to one-third of its normal rate.A sloth’s ability to control its heart rate is obviously the main reason why it can stay underwater for so long, but there are more reasons why sloths are such great swimmers. Although they seem to be built to spend most of their time in a tree-like habitat, they are three times faster in water compared to what they are on land. They can travel at a speed of up to 42.6 ft (13 m) per minute in marine regions, which is almost three times more than their speed on the ground or trees. In addition to this, the muscle strength and formation of sloths’ arms along with their buoyant bodies and almost rotatable necks also assist them while swimming.How Does It Help Them?Being able to hold its breath for 40 minutes or just swimming is more of practical activity for a sloth. Although sloths mostly sleep, eat, search for a bathroom, or simply explore nature in the trees, these animals use waterways to travel instead of crawling on the ground.Sloths are among the most commonly-known, slow-moving wild animals around the world, and traveling by land not only takes ages but also leaves them exposed to predatory wildlife. Considering the fact that they live in or around rainforests, rivers act as natural corridors for a sloth to travel around. Similarly, a rainforest habitat is prone to excessive floods during the rain, which means a sloth’s ability to swim can help it survive and make quick moves to higher trees.Can sloths hold their breath longer than dolphins?As it may seem like sloths are only good when searching for a tree on which to park their bodies, the idea that they can control their breathing for longer than dolphins can seem strange. It may seem odd, but it has been proven that sloths can hold their breath for longer than dolphins.The world has an interesting way of surprising us because, although dolphins spend their entire lives in the ocean, they can only stop breathing for a maximum of 8-10 minutes. However, the upside-down-hanging sloth, which is way more familiar with land, can hold its breath for a whopping 20-40 minutes! Oftentimes, sloths can also rotate their heads because the number of their cervical vertebrae allows them to pop out their head easily to watch out for predators and catch a breath while swimming.Animal That Can Hold Its Breath The LongestAlthough we have found out that sloths can hold their breath for quite a long duration, let’s make things interesting by learning about the animal which can hold its breath for the longest! Among mammals, the curvier-beaked whale is said to be the longest, with a breath-holding record set at two hours 17 minutes!Initially, it was thought that the elephant seal could spend the longest time underwater with a record set at two hours, but this idea was later replaced by the curvier-beaked whale. Similarly, if not considering mammals, the animals that can go longest without taking a breath are sea turtles. They can go four to seven hours while holding their breath, and can rest underwater for days!Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for ‘How long can a sloth hold its breath?’ then why not take a look at ‘How long can dolphins hold their breath?’, or ‘Sloth Facts’.
When anyone says sloths, the first thing that may pop into our heads is an incredibly slow land animal, usually found hanging from trees.
