The
pygmy three-toed sloth (
Bradypus pygmaeus), also known as a
monk sloth or
dwarf sloth, is a small
three-toed sloth, endemic to
Isla Escudo de Veraguas, a small island off the coast of
Panama, which separated from the mainland nearly 8900 years ago. Only described as a separate species in 2001, they are thought to have originated from isolation of individuals of the mainland population of
brown-throated three-toed sloths. The population became a distinct species through
insular dwarfism on the island.