The Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), a member of Folivora suborder, is found in the rainforest canopy of South America. Both the Hoffmann's two-toed sloth and human belong to Eutheria subclass. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of C. hoffmanni is reported . The whole mitochondrial genome is 16 466 bp in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. Comparison between the mitochondrial genome of the C. hoffmanni and that of its congener Choloepus didactylus revealed a high similarity in their gene sequences. We also constructed a phylogenetic tree on the complete mitochondrial genomes of these two species and other 14 closely related species to show their phylogenic relationship. To conclude, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genome of C. hoffmanni and its phylogenic relationship with other related species, which would facilitate our understanding of the evolution of eutherian mitochondrial genome.
Keywords: C. hoffmanni; Hoffmann's two-toed sloth; mitogenome; phylogenic relationship.