''Palaeomyrmidon'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

anteater Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue"), commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they ar ...

. Its closest living relative is the

silky anteater The silky anteater, also known as the pygmy anteater, has traditionally been considered a single species of anteater, ''Cyclopes didactylus'', in the genus ''Cyclopes'', the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae. Found in southern Mexico ...

(''Cyclopes didactylus''). Although the silky anteater is

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, ''Palaeomyrmidon'' lived on the ground. ''Palaeomyrmidon'' is known from a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

that was found in the Andalhualá Formation of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

.Rovereto, Cayetano. 1914. Los estratos Araucanos y sus fósiles. ''Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires'' 25: 1-247.

References

Anteaters Miocene xenarthrans Pliocene xenarthrans Monotypic prehistoric placental genera Miocene mammals of South America Pliocene mammals of South America Chapadmalalan Montehermosan Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1914 {{Paleo-mammal-stub