It’s not something you would expect, but sloths are actually amazing swimmers! They can swim three times faster than they can walk and hold their breath longer than a bottlenose dolphin. Biologists think their swimming abilities were inherited from their ancestors, since many extinct sloths were semi-aquatic. Nowadays, they swim to expand their reach and cross rivers to find food or potential mates. Their long arms and extra neck vertebrae help them stay afloat, and their slow digestion produces so much gas that it acts as a built-in life vest. Nature is full of surprises!