Neotamandua | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Pilosa |
Family: | Myrmecophagidae |
Genus: | †
Neotamandua Rovereto 1914 |
Species | |
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Neotamandua is an extinct genus of anteaters that lived in the Miocene to Pliocene in South America.
Their fossils have been found in the Miocene Collón Cura Formation of Argentina, [2] the Honda Group at La Venta in Colombia and the Pliocene Araucano Formation in Argentina. [3] Its closest living relatives are the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and tamanduas (genus Tamandua). [3] [2] The species Neotamandua borealis was suggested to be an ancestor of the giant anteater. [4] Patterson (1992) suggested the Neotamandua fossils are very similar to Myrmecophaga, which would mean Neotamandua may be congeneric with Myrmecophaga. [2]