First named by Gerardo De Iuliis, Timothy J. Gaudin and Matthew J. Vicars in 2001, Mionothropus is an extinct genus of nothrotheriine nothrotheriid sloth which existed in Peru where its generic name was derived from "Mio", a reference to the Miocene provenance of the holotype, and "nothropus" refers to the initial allocation of the holotype to this genus from the South American Pleistocene.
It was first named by Gerardo De Iuliis, Timothy J. Gaudin and Matthew J. Vicars in 2011 and the type species is Mionothropus cartellei. Mionothropus is an extinct genus of nothrotheriine nothrotheriid sloth which existed in Peru in the western Amazon Basin, during the late Miocene (Huayquerian age). The generic name is derived from "Mio", is a reference to the Miocene provenance of the holotype, and "nothropus" refers to the initial allocation of the holotype to this genus from the South American Pleistocene. 
