Anteater - Classification

Classification

The anteaters are more closely related to the sloths than they are to any other group of mammals. Their next closest relations are armadillos. Three genera are still living: the giant and the silky anteaters, and the northern and southern tamanduas, and several genera are extinct.

A giant anteater (top), a silky anteater, and a southern tamandua

Order Pilosa

  • Suborder Folivora (sloths)
  • Suborder Vermilingua (anteaters)
    • Family Cyclopedidae
      • Genus Cyclopes
        • Silky anteater (C. didactylus)
      • Genus †Palaeomyrmidon (Rovereto 1914)
    • Family Myrmecophagidae
      • Genus Myrmecophaga
        • Giant anteater (M. tridactyla)
      • Genus †Neotamandua (Rovereto 1914)
      • Genus Tamandua
        • Northern tamandua (T. mexicana)
        • Southern tamandua (T. tetradactyla)
      • Genus †Protamandua (Ameghino 1904)

Read more about this topic:  Anteater