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The superorder Xenarthra is a group of placental mammals (infraclass Eutheria), extant today only in the Americas. The origins of the order can be traced back as far as the early Tertiary
Tertiary

The Tertiary is a a term for a Geologic time scale#Terminology 65 million to 1.8 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and an out-of-date definition of the Neogene#Controversy....
 (about 60 million years ago, shortly after the Mesozoic era
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
). The presence of these animals in Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 is explained by the Great American Interchange
Great American Interchange

The Great American Interchange was an important zoogeography event in which land and freshwater fauna migrated from North America via Central America to South America and vice versa, as the volcanic Isthmus of Panama rose up from the sea floor and bridged the formerly separated continents....
.

Xenarthrans have the lowest metabolic rates among the therians
Theria

Theria is a Scientific classification of mammals that give birth to live young without using a shelled egg , including both eutherians and metatherians ....
.

Evolutionary relationships
Xenarthra includes the anteater
Anteater

Anteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa....
s, tree sloth
Sloth

The living sloths comprise six species of medium-sized mammals that live in Central America and South America belonging to the Family two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth, part of the order Pilosa....
s, and armadillo
Armadillo

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery Armour shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths....
s, as well as the extinct ground sloth
Ground sloth

Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, mammals in the edentate superorder Xenarthra. They may have died out as recently as 1550 AD in Hispaniola and Cuba, but had long since been extinct on the mainland of North America and South America....
s, glyptodonts
Glyptodontidae

Glyptodonts were large, more heavily-armored relatives of extinct Pampatheriidae and modern armadillos. They first evolved during the Miocene in South America, which remained their Species diversity....
 and pampatheres
Pampatheriidae

Pampatheridae is an ancient family, now Extinction, of large armadillo-like plantigrade Animal shell xenarthrans. They are related to Glyptodontidae, an extinct family of much larger and more heavily armored xenarthrans, as well as to Extant taxon armadillos ....
.






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The superorder Xenarthra is a group of placental mammals (infraclass Eutheria), extant today only in the Americas. The origins of the order can be traced back as far as the early Tertiary
Tertiary

The Tertiary is a a term for a Geologic time scale#Terminology 65 million to 1.8 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and an out-of-date definition of the Neogene#Controversy....
 (about 60 million years ago, shortly after the Mesozoic era
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
). The presence of these animals in Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 is explained by the Great American Interchange
Great American Interchange

The Great American Interchange was an important zoogeography event in which land and freshwater fauna migrated from North America via Central America to South America and vice versa, as the volcanic Isthmus of Panama rose up from the sea floor and bridged the formerly separated continents....
.

Xenarthrans have the lowest metabolic rates among the therians
Theria

Theria is a Scientific classification of mammals that give birth to live young without using a shelled egg , including both eutherians and metatherians ....
.

Evolutionary relationships


Xenarthra includes the anteater
Anteater

Anteaters are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa....
s, tree sloth
Sloth

The living sloths comprise six species of medium-sized mammals that live in Central America and South America belonging to the Family two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth, part of the order Pilosa....
s, and armadillo
Armadillo

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery Armour shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths....
s, as well as the extinct ground sloth
Ground sloth

Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, mammals in the edentate superorder Xenarthra. They may have died out as recently as 1550 AD in Hispaniola and Cuba, but had long since been extinct on the mainland of North America and South America....
s, glyptodonts
Glyptodontidae

Glyptodonts were large, more heavily-armored relatives of extinct Pampatheriidae and modern armadillos. They first evolved during the Miocene in South America, which remained their Species diversity....
 and pampatheres
Pampatheriidae

Pampatheridae is an ancient family, now Extinction, of large armadillo-like plantigrade Animal shell xenarthrans. They are related to Glyptodontidae, an extinct family of much larger and more heavily armored xenarthrans, as well as to Extant taxon armadillos ....
. In the past, these families were classified together with the pangolin
Pangolin

Pangolins or scaly anteaters or Trenggiling are mammals in the Scientific classification Pholidota. There is only one extant family and one genus of pangolins, comprising eight species....
s and aardvark
Aardvark

The Aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is sometimes called "antbear", "anteater", "Cape anteater" , "earth hog" or "earth pig"....
s as the order Edentata (meaning toothless, because the members do not have front incisor teeth or molars, or have poorly-developed molars). It was subsequently realized that Edentata was polyphyletic—that it contained unrelated families and was thus invalid by cladistic standards. Aardvarks and pangolins are now placed in individual orders, and the new order Xenarthra was erected to group the remaining families (which are all related). The name Xenarthra means "strange joints", and was chosen because their vertebra
Vertebra

A vertebra is an individual bone in the flexible column that defines vertebrate animals. The vertebral column encases and protects the spinal cord, which runs from the base of the cranium down the dorsal side of the animal until reaching the pelvis....
l joints have extra articulations and are unlike those of any other mammals. Because they lack characteristics believed to be present in the common ancestor of other known eutheria
Eutheria

Eutheria are a group of mammals consisting of placental mammals plus all extinct mammals that are more closely related to living placentals than to living marsupials ....
n mammals, morphological evidence suggests that the Xenarthra are outside the Epitheria
Epitheria

Epitherians comprise all the eutherian mammals except the Xenarthra. They are primarily characterized by having a stirrup-shaped stapes in the middle ear, which allows for passage of a blood vessel....
, which contains all other known eutherians today.

The morphology of xenarthrans generally suggests that the anteaters and sloths are closest together within Xenarthra, which is upheld by molecular studies. The order Xenarthra is more and more often divided into two orders: Pilosa, containing the Vermilingua (anteaters) and Folivora (sloths; previously known as Tardigrada), and the separate order Cingulata (armadillos). Xenarthra now has the rank of cohort
Cohort

Cohort may refer to:* Cohort * Cohort , a group of proximate data and/or operations* Cohort , a group of subjects with a common defining characteristic ? typically age group...
 or super-order. The Xenarthra are part of the super-cohort Atlantogenata
Atlantogenata

Atlantogenata is a molecularly-defined mammal clade containing the cohorts or super-orders Xenarthra and Afrotheria. These groups originated and radiated in the South American and African continents, presumably in the Cretaceous....
.

Classification

SUPERORDER XENARTHRA
  • Order Cingulata
    • Family Dasypodidae: armadillos
      • Pink Fairy Armadillo
        Pink Fairy Armadillo

        The Pink Fairy Armadillo or Pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo The Pink Fairy Armadillo is approximately 90-115 mm long excluding the tail, and is rose or pink in color....
        , Chlamyphorus truncatus
      • Pichiciego, Chlamyphorus retusus
      • Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo
        Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo

        The Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo is a species of armadillo. It is found from southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela, and is one of only two species of armadillos that can be found outside of South America....
        , Cabassous centralis
      • Chacoan Naked-tailed Armadillo
        Chacoan Naked-tailed Armadillo

        The Chacoan Naked-tailed Armadillo is a species of armadillo in the Dasypodidae family. It is found in Argentina, Paraguay, and possibly Brazil....
        , Cabassous chacoensis
      • Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo
        Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo

        The Southern Naked-tailed Armadillo, Cabassous unicinctus, is a small species of armadillo from South America. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil....
        , Cabassous unicinctus
      • Greater Naked-tailed Armadillo
        Greater Naked-tailed Armadillo

        The Greater Naked-tailed Armadillo, Cabassous tatouay, is an armadillo species from South America. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay....
        , Cabassous tatouay
      • Screaming Hairy Armadillo
        Screaming Hairy Armadillo

        The Screaming Hairy Armadillo is a species of armadillo in the Dasypodidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, hot deserts, t...
        , Chaetophractus vellerosus
      • Big Hairy Armadillo
        Big Hairy Armadillo

        The Big Hairy Armadillo is a species of armadillo in the Dasypodidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subantarctic forests, temperate forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland...
        , Chaetophractus villosus
      • Andean Hairy Armadillo
        Andean Hairy Armadillo

        The Andean Hairy Armadillo is an armadillo present in Bolivia, in the region of the Puna, the departments of Oruro, La Paz, and Cochabamba . Nowark describes it as distributed in Bolivia and the northern Chile....
        , Chaetophractus nationi
      • Nine-banded Armadillo
        Nine-banded Armadillo

        The nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or just nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus , is a species of armadillo from North America, Central America and South America....
         or Long-nosed Armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus
      • Seven-banded Armadillo
        Seven-banded Armadillo

        Seven-banded Long-nosed Armadillo or just Seven-banded Armadillo, Dasypus septemcinctus, is a species of armadillo from South America....
        , Dasypus septemcinctus
      • Southern Long-nosed Armadillo
        Southern Long-nosed Armadillo

        Southern Long-nosed Armadillo, Dasypus hybridus, is an armadillo species from South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay....
        , Dasypus hybridus
      • Llanos Long-nosed Armadillo
        Llanos Long-nosed Armadillo

        The Llanos Long-nosed Armadillo is a species of armadillo in the Dasypodidae family. It is Endemism to Colombia and Venezuela. The species is very closely related to the Nine-banded Armadillo and the Greater Long-nosed Armadillo....
        , Dasypus sabanicola
      • Great Long-nosed Armadillo, Dasypus kappleri
      • Hairy Long-nosed Armadillo
        Hairy Long-nosed Armadillo

        The Hairy Long-nosed Armadillo is a species of armadillo in the Dasypodidae family. It is Endemism to Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
        , Dasypus pilosus
      • Six-banded Armadillo
        Six-banded Armadillo

        The Six-banded Armadillo , also known as the Yellow Armadillo, is a species of armadillo from South America. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and isolated populations in Suriname ....
         or Yellow Armadillo, Euphractus sexcinctus
      • Giant Armadillo
        Giant Armadillo

        The Giant Armadillo, also, variously, Tatou, Ocarro, Tatu-canastra or Tat? Carreta, Priodontes maximus is the largest living species of armadillo....
        , Priodontes maximus
      • Southern Three-banded Armadillo
        Southern Three-banded Armadillo

        The Southern Three-banded Armadillo , also called the La Plata Three-Banded Armadillo, is an armadillo species from South America. Its range is extensive; it is found throughout Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia....
        , Tolypeutes matacus
      • Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo
        Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo

        The Brazilian Three-banded Armadillo, Tolypeutes tricinctus, is an armadillo species endemic to Brazil. It is one of only two species of armadillo that can roll into a ball....
        , Tolypeutes tricinctus
      • Pichi
        Pichi

        The Pichi or Dwarf Armadillo is a small armadillo that is the only member the genus Zaedyus. The range of the Pichi is from central and southern Argentina , west to the Andean grasslands of Chile and south to the Strait of Magellan....
         or Dwarf Armadillo, Zaedyus pichiy
    • Family †Glyptodontidae
      Glyptodontidae

      Glyptodonts were large, more heavily-armored relatives of extinct Pampatheriidae and modern armadillos. They first evolved during the Miocene in South America, which remained their Species diversity....
      : glyptodonts
    • Family †Pampatheriidae
      Pampatheriidae

      Pampatheridae is an ancient family, now Extinction, of large armadillo-like plantigrade Animal shell xenarthrans. They are related to Glyptodontidae, an extinct family of much larger and more heavily armored xenarthrans, as well as to Extant taxon armadillos ....
      : pampatheres
  • Order Pilosa
    Pilosa

    The order Pilosa is a group of placental mammals, extant today only in the Americas. It includes the anteaters and sloths, including the recently extinct ground sloths....
    • Suborder Folivora
      • Family Bradypodidae: three-toed sloths
        • Pygmy Three-toed Sloth
          Pygmy Three-toed Sloth

          The Pygmy Three-toed Sloth is a three-toed sloth. Its habitat is located on the tiny island of Isla Escudo de Veraguas off the coast of Panama....
          , Bradypus pygmaeus
        • Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
          Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth

          The Brown-throated Sloth, Bradypus variegatus, is a species of three-toed sloth from Central America and South America.It is the most widespread and common species of the group, being found in many different kinds of environments, including evergreen and dry forests and in highly perturbed natural areas....
          , Bradypus variegatus
        • Pale-throated Three-toed Sloth
          Pale-throated Three-toed Sloth

          The Pale-throated Sloth is a three-toed sloth that inhabits tropical rainforests of Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas and Brazil. This sloth lives high in the canopy....
          , Bradypus tridactylus
        • Maned Three-toed Sloth
          Maned Three-toed Sloth

          The maned sloth, also known as the ai, Bradypus torquatus, is a species of Three-toed sloth South American sloth.The maned sloth has a small head, tiny eyes and ears, and a small tail hidden in its fur....
          , Bradypus torquatus
      • Family Megalonychidae
        Megalonychidae

        Megalonychid ground sloths first appeared in the early Oligocene, about 35 million years ago, in southern Argentina , and spread as far as the Antilles by the early Miocene....
        : two-toed sloths and extinct megalonychid
        Ground sloth

        Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, mammals in the edentate superorder Xenarthra. They may have died out as recently as 1550 AD in Hispaniola and Cuba, but had long since been extinct on the mainland of North America and South America....
         ground sloths
        • Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth, Choloepus hoffmanni
        • Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth
          Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth

          Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth , also known as the Southern Two-toed Sloth or unau, is a species of sloth from South America, found in Venezuela, the Guyanas and Brazil north of the Amazon River....
           or Southern Two-toed Sloth, Choloepus didactylus
      • Family †Megatheriidae: megatheriid ground sloths
      • Family †Mylodontidae: mylodontid ground sloths
      • Family †Orophodontidae: orophodontid ground sloths
      • Family †Scelidotheriidae: scelidotheriid ground sloths
    • Suborder Vermilingua
      • Family Cyclopedidae: silky anteaters
        • Silky Anteater
          Silky Anteater

          Silky Anteater or Pygmy Anteater is a species of anteater from Central America and South America ranging from extreme southern Mexico south to Brazil and, possibly, Paraguay....
          , Cyclopes didactylus
      • Family Myrmecophagidae
        Myrmecophagidae

        Myrmecophagidae is a family of anteaters, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek words for 'ant' and 'eat' . Myrmecophagids are native to Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina....
        : anteaters
        • Giant Anteater
          Giant Anteater

          .The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is found in Central America and South America. It is the only species in the Myrmecophaga genus....
          , Myrmecophaga tridactyla
        • Northern Tamandua
          Northern Tamandua

          The Northern Tamandua is a species of tamandua anteater in the Myrmecophagidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela....
          , Tamandua mexicana
        • Southern Tamandua
          Southern Tamandua

          Southern Tamandua, Collared Anteater or Lesser Anteater is a species of anteater from South America.It is a solitary animal, found in many habitats from mature to highly disturbed secondary forests and arid savannas....
          , Tamandua tetradactyla