Neotamandua borealis

Neotamandua borealis
Temporal range: Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Xenarthra
Order: Pilosa
Suborder: Vermilingua
Family: Myrmecophagidae
Genus: Neotamandua
Species: N. borealis
Binomial name
Neotamandua borealis

Neotamandua borealis is an extinct species of anteater. Fossils were found in La Venta, Colombia.[1] It was suggested to be an ancestor of the giant anteater, and is also related to the tamanduas.[1]

Neotamandua borealis ate social insects such as ants and termites.[2] It was both arboreal and terrestrial.[2] It weighed between 10 and 100 kilograms (22 and 220 lb).[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Hirschfeld, S.E. (1976). "A New Fossil Anteater ( Edentata , Mammalia ) from Colombia , S . A . and Evolution of the Vermilingua". Journal of Paleontology 50 (3). JSTOR 1303522. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Kay, R.F. & Madden, R.H. (1997). "Mammals and rainfall: paleoecology of the middle Miocene at La Venta (Colombia, South America)" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution 32: 170–171. doi:10.1006/jhev.1996.0104. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
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