Isla Escudo de Veraguas is a small (4.3 km
2) isolated
Caribbean island of the Republic of
Panama. Despite its name, it is not part of the province of
Veraguas, but rather
Bocas del Toro. Although located only 17 km from the coastline in the
Golfo de los Mosquitos and isolated for only about 9000 years, several animals found on the island are distinct from their mainland counterparts, and two mammal species are recognized as occurring only on the island: the fruit bat
Artibeus incomitatus and the sloth
Bradypus pygmaeus (also known as the pygmy sloth). These two species and the worm salamander
Oedipina maritima are all considered to be
critically endangered due to their being unique to the small island. Other mammals found on the island include the bats
Glossophaga soricina,
Micronycteris megalotis,
Carollia brevicauda,
Myotis riparius, and
Saccopteryx leptura, the spiny rat
Hoplomys gymnurus, and the opossum
Caluromys derbianus. The island has of mangrove forest (the only known habitat of the pygmy sloth) and of coral reef with 55 coral species. It houses over 11,000 species, and has an average high of 23 degrees Celsius and a low of 12 degrees Celsius.