XENARTHRANS

-Anteaters
-Sloths
-Armadillos
 Xenarthra
(Armadillos, sloths
& anteaters)

Order Cingulata Order Pilosa

Family Suborder
Suborder
Dasypodidae Folivora Vermilingua
(Armadillos) (Sloths) (anteaters)

Family Family Family Family

Bradypodidae Megalonychidae cyclopedidae Myrmecophagidae
(3 toed) (2 toed) (silky) (other anteaters)
 3 genera, 4 species
ANTEATERS
 Suborder Vermilingua
 Family Myrmecophagidae
 Genus Myrmecophaga
 Giant anteater
 Genus Tamandua
 Northern Tamandua
 Southern Tamandua
 Family Cyclopedidae
 Genus Cyclopes
 Silky Anteater
4 SPECIES OF ANTEATER
 Giant anteater (1.8m)

 Northern Tamandua (1.2m)

 Southern/Collared Tamandua (1.2m)

 Silky/Pygmy Anteater (0.35m)

SLOTHS
 Order Pilosa
2 genera, 6 species
 Families
 Megalonychidae = two-toed sloths
 Bradypodidae = three-toed sloths
MEGALONYCHIDAE
TWO-TOED SLOTHS

 Genus Choloepus

 Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth

 Southern/Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth

BRADYPODIDAE
THREE-TOED SLOTHS
 Genus Bradypus

 Brown-throated three-toed sloth

 Pale-throated three-toed sloth

 Maned three-toed sloth

 Pygmy three-toed sloth

ARMADILLOS
 Family Dasypodidae (9 genera, 21 species)
 Long-nosed armadillo Dasypus
 Naked-tailed armadillo Cabassous
 Hairy armadillo Chaetophractus
 Three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes
 Brazilian and Southern
 Fairy armadillo
 Lesser and Greater
 Yellow armadillo
 1 species : Euphractus sexcintus
 Giant armadillo
 1 species : Priodontes maximus
 Pichi
 1 species : Zaedyus pichiy
GENUS : DASYPUS
LONG-NOSED ARMADILLOS
 Common/nine-banded long-nosed
armadillo

 Brazilian Lesser/seven-banded long-nosed

armadillo
 Greater long-nosed armadillo
 Northern long-nosed armadillo
 Hairy long-nosed armadillo
 Yepes’s mulita

 Southern Lesser long-nosed armadillo

GENUS: CABASSOUS
NAKED-TAILED ARMADILLO

 Southern naked-tailed armadillo

 Northern naked-tailed armadillo

 Chacoan naked-tailed armadillo

 Greater naked-tailed armadillo

GENUS: CHAETOPHRACTUS
HAIRY ARMADILLOS

 Andean hairy armadillo

 Screaming hairy armadillo

 Larger hairy armadillo

TWO SPECIES ARMADILLO
GENERA
 Fairy armadillo
 Greater/Chacoan = Calyptophractus retusus
 Lesser/Pink = Chamyphorus truncatus

 Three-banded armadillo
 Southern = Tolypeutes matacus

 Brazilian = Tolypeutes tricinctus

SINGLE SPECIES ARMADILLO
GENERA
 Giant armadillo
 Priodontes maximus

 Yellow armadillo
 1 species Euphractus sexcintus

 Pichi
 Zaedyus pichiy
GEOGRAPHIC COMPARISONS

Anteaters Sloths Armadillos

TIME FOR THE POINTLESS INFORMATION FROM THE BOOK :S

…..CONDENSED & SIMPLIFIED BY WIKKIPEDIA :D

XENARTHRANS
XENARTHRANS:
 “Strange Joints”
 Vertebral joints have extra articulations
 Males lack external testicles
 Decreased metabolic rates

Other info:
 Contains placental mammals in South America
 From Paleogene era (60mya) to present
 Anteater&sloths = sister groups
 Used to be Edentata (toothless)
 Convergent evolution meant that the old group was
polyphyletic and not correct
XENARTHRANS
 **Convergent Evolution seen with Pangolins
and Aardvarks**
 Powerful digging forearms
 Long tongue
 Toothless, tube-like snouts
ANTEATERS
 General Info
 Eats ants & termites
 Solitary
 Above ground or arboreal
 Can use claws for defense

 Reproduction
1 offspring per birth
 Babies ride on mother’s back

 Morphology
 No teeth
 5 toes on the foot (5th is vestigial)
 Only 3 are clearly visable
 Partially prehensile tails
 Silky & Tamanduas species
ANTEATERS (CONTINUED)
 Feeding strategies
 Long sharp claws to open insect colonies & tree
trunks
 Consume pebbles and debris to aid in physical
digestion
 Specialized tongue
 Long
 Attached to a sternum
 Moves rapidly (150 flicks per min)
 Sticky substance coats tongue
 Secreted from the salivary glands
SLOTHS
General Info
 Arboreal leaf-eaters
 Solitary
 Can have overlapping home ranges due to differing preferences for different leaves
 Sleep 10-15 hours a day

Morphological info
 Simple peg-like cheek teeth
 Lack enamel covering
 Have a canine-like premolar
 Single “open root”
 Allows for continuous growth of the teeth
 Fur grows away from the extremities
 Due to hanging upside down
 Claws
 To hang upside down
 For defense
SLOTHS (CONTINUED)
 **Specialized stomachs for digesting leafs**
 Slow-acting (takes a month to digest)
 Multiple compartments
 Symbiotic bacteria within stomach
SLOTHS (CONTINUED)
 ****Sloths = an ecosystem******
2 symbiotic cynanobacteria
 Provides cameoflage
Turns the fur green when moist
Symbiotic bacteria within the stomach
Moths ticks and beetles hide within the fur

 **Cervical vertebrae**
Most other mammals = 7 cervical vertebrae
2 toed sloths =6 cervical vertebrae
3 toed sloths = 9 cervical vertebrae
ARMADILLOS
General Info
 Burrow underground
 Leathery armour shell
 Insectivores
 Nocturnal
 Solitary

 Simple peg-like cheeck teeth

 Lack enamel covering
 Single “open root”
 Continuous growth
 INTERESTING FACTS
(THAT HE COULD ASK US TO KNOW)
 Armadillos
 Can develop leprosy
 Big eyes, but poor vision
 9-banded armadillo
 Can inflate the stomach & intestines in order to
swim
 Will jump up when startled
 Thus the collisions with fenders from passing cars
ARMADILLO ARMOUR
 Used for defense
 Southern 3-banded armadillo can roll up into a
ball
 Others have too many plates and are unable to roll up
into a ball
 They run or dig to escape

 **Armour Composition**
 Dermal bone
 Covered in overlapping epidermal scales
 “scutes”
 Underside has no armour
 Soft skin and fur
ARMADILLO REPRODUCTION
 Gestation = 60-120 days

 Delayed implantation can occur

 Female can delay the gestation after the egg is fertilized
 Can delay between a few months to a few years

 **Obligate Polyembryony**
 One fertilized egg develops into 4 identical babies
 Monozygotic young
 Born with soft leathery skin
 Hardens within a week
 Occurs because the increased similarity between the babies (who came from
one egg, will mean an increased chance that the babies will help each other
 Altruistic behaviour (evolutionary benefits if the helper & the helpee are
related)
GOOD LUCK :D