Which mammal order includes anteaters and sloths?

Which mammal order includes anteaters and sloths? The answer is Pilosa.

Pilosa is a group of xenarthran placental mammals native mainly to the Americas. Its two living branches are Vermilingua, the anteaters, and Folivora, the sloths. The order also includes numerous extinct ground sloths, some of which were much larger than any living sloth.

Pilosa belongs to the superorder Xenarthra, alongside armadillos in the order Cingulata. Xenarthrans are named for distinctive extra articulations in their lower back vertebrae. Older classifications grouped these animals with pangolins and aardvarks as “Edentata,” but that grouping was abandoned because it combined unrelated mammals with superficially similar toothless adaptations.

Anteaters and sloths can seem unlikely relatives because anteaters specialize in ants and termites while sloths eat leaves. Their shared ancestry is supported by anatomy and molecular studies. The name Pilosa comes from the Latin word for “hairy,” fitting a lineage whose living members are notably fur-covered.