''Protamandua'' 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 ...
of
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 ...
s. Its closest living relatives are the
giant anteater
The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an Insectivore, insectivorous mammal native to Central America, Central and South America. It is the largest of the four living species of anteaters, which are classified with sloths in the or ...
(''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') and
tamandua
''Tamandua'' is a genus of anteaters in the Myrmecophagidae family with two species: the southern tamandua (''T. tetradactyla'') and the northern tamandua (''T. mexicana''). They live in forests and grasslands, are semiarboreal, and possess part ...
s (genus ''Tamandua''). Fossils of ''Protamandua'' are restricted to the
Santa Cruz Formation
The Santa Cruz Formation is a geological formation in the Magallanes Basin, Magallanes/Austral Basin in southern Patagonia in Argentina and adjacent areas of Chile. It dates to the late Early Miocene epoch, and is contemporaneous with the eponym ...
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 ...
.
It may have been a common ancestor of ''Myrmecophaga'' and ''Tamandua''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7251167
Anteaters
Prehistoric placental genera
Miocene xenarthrans
Miocene mammals of South America
Mayoan
Laventan
Colloncuran
Friasian
Santacrucian
Neogene Argentina
Fossils of Argentina
Fossil taxa described in 1904
Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino