''Eurotamandua'' ("european ''Tamandua''") is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

from extinct family Eurotamanduidae that lived some 40-35

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

, during the middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

. A single fossil is known, coming from the

Messel Pit The Messel pit (german: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the village of Messel ( Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserv ...

in southwestern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ''Eurotamandua'' was about long. Most

palaeontologists Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

now classify ''Eurotamandua'' as a

pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smut ...

. When its fossils were first discovered, ''Eurotamandua'' was originally thought to be an

anteater Anteater is a common name for the four extant mammal species of 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 ...

, as it lacked the characteristic fused-hair scales of other pangolins. ''Eurotamandua'' placement within the pangolins was made primarily because of a lack of the characteristic "

xenarthra Xenarthra (; from Ancient Greek ξένος, xénos, "foreign, alien" + ἄρθρον, árthron, "joint") is a major clade of placental mammals native to the Americas. There are 31 living species: the anteaters, tree sloths, and armadillos. Ex ...

n" joints found in all xenarthrans, including

tamandua ''Tamandua'' is a genus of anteaters with two species: the southern tamandua (''T. tetradactyla'') and the northern tamandua (''T. mexicana''). They live in forests and grasslands, are semiarboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They m ...

s. There is still much ambiguity in the taxonomy of all mammals prior to the

, so there is the possibility that ''Eurotamandua'' was a primitive xenarthran. However, this is highly unlikely because all known fossil evidence indicates that xenarthrans existed exclusively in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

from the beginning of the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

era until the formation of the Panama land bridge 3 million years ago, after which they spread to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(but never to Eurasia or Africa). Another possibility is that ''Eurotamandua'' belongs to another groups of mammals which appeared around its time, the Afredentata (probably part of

Afrotheria Afrotheria ( from Latin ''Afro-'' "of Africa" + ''theria'' "wild beast") is a clade of mammals, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in Africa or of African origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also know ...

).Hunter, John P. and Janis, Christine M. 2006. "Spiny Norman in the Garden of Eden? Dispersal and early biogeography of Placentalia." ''J Mammal Evol'' 13:89–123 ''Eurotamandua'' is currently thought to be a

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

-pangolin, closer to crown pangolins than

Palaeanodonta Palaeanodonta ("ancient toothless animals") is an extinct clade of stem- pangolins. They were insectivorous, possibly fossorial, and lived from the Early Paleocene to Early Oligocene in North America, Europe and East Asia. While the taxonomic ...

and ''

Euromanis ''Euromanis'' ("european pangolin") is one of the earliest known pangolin genera. It lived during the Eocene in Europe. ''Euromanis'' fossils found in the Messel Pit in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is ...

'' but more basal than ''

Eomanis ''Eomanis'' ("dawn pangolin") is the earliest known true (and scaled) pangolin from extinct family Eomanidae (and extinct superfamily Eomanoidea) within suborder Eupholidota. It lived during the Eocene in Europe. ''Eomanis'' fossils found in th ...

'' and ''

Necromanis ''Necromanis'' ("extinct pangolin") is an extinct genus of pangolin from superfamily Manoidea. It lived during the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe. It was originally placed within family Manidae, but was eventually removed from it as more f ...

''.

Paleobiology

''Eurotamandua'' bears characteristics found in almost all ant-eating mammals: long

claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

s, an elongated snout, and most likely the same long, sticky tongue. These features led ''Eurotamandua'' to be initially misclassified as a xenarthran anteater, which was common for many

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

-eating mammals prior to the 20th century. Presumably it also fed on ants and

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

s. The generic name comments on the strong, albeit possibly superficial resemblance to modern arboreal anteaters of the genus ''Tamandua'', especially with its long, prehensile tail.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic position of genus ''Eurotamandua'' within order Pholidota.

References

External links

* Online discussion of ''Eurotamandua'' relation

* Photo of fossi

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15297894 Eocene mammals of Europe Myrmecophagous mammals Prehistoric pangolins Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 1981