Sloth Relatives Part Two: Living Sloth Species

There are six sloth species living today:  four three-toed Bradypus sloths, and two two-toed Choloepus sloths.

Pygmy three-toed sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus):  A small population of these tiny sloths lives on Isla Escudo de Veraguas off the coast of Panama.  This sloth is only 19 to 21 inches long and weighs around 5 to 8 pounds.  

Pygmy Three-Toed Sloth

Maned sloth (Bradypus torquatus):  Only living in Brazil, this sloth ranges from 22 to 30 inches long.

Maned sloth, photo by Paulo Chaves

Pale-throated sloth (Bradypus tridactylus):  This sloth looks a lot like a brown-throated sloth, but only lives in the tropical forests of northern South America.

Pale-throated sloth, photo by Fernando Flores

Brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus):  This is the most common of the three-toed sloths and it lives throughout the forests of South and Central America.

Brown-throated sloth, photo by Stefan Laube

Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus): Typically larger than three-toed sloths, these live in Venezuela, the Guyanas, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil north of the Amazon River.

Linnaeus Two-toed sloth at Buffalo Zoo, photo by Dave Pape

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni):  This sloth lives throughout Central and South America.  It ranges from 21 to 28 inches long.

A two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) at La Selva Biological Station, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, Photo by Geoff Gallice.