Neotamandua

Neotamandua is an extinct genus of anteaters that lived in the Miocene to Pliocene in South America.

Neotamandua Temporal range: Mid Miocene-Late Pliocene (Laventan-Chapadmalalan) ~13.8–3.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Pilosa
Family:	Myrmecophagidae
Genus:	†Neotamandua Rovereto 1914
Species
N. borealis Hirschfeld 1976 N. conspicua Rovereto 1914[1] N. greslebini Kraglievich 1940 N. magna Ameghino 1919

Taxonomy

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]