<P> Anteaters and sloths belong to order Pilosa and share superorder Xenarthra with the Cingulata (whose only extant members are armadillos). The two orders of Xenarthra split 66 million years ago (Mya) during the Late Cretaceous epoch . Anteaters and sloths diverged around 55 Mya, between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs . The Cyclopes lineage emerged around 30 Mya in the Oligocene epoch, while the Myrmecophaga and Tamandua lineages split 10 Mya in the Late Miocene subepoch . During most of the Cenozoic era, anteaters were confined to South America, which was formerly an island continent . Following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 Mya, anteaters of all three extant genera invaded Central America as part of the Great American Interchange . </P> <P> The fossil record for anteaters is generally sparse . Some known fossils include the Pliocene genus Palaeomyrmidon, a close relative to the silky anteater, Protamandua, the sister taxon to the clade that includes the giant anteater and the tamanduas from the Miocene, and Neotamandua, a sister taxon to Myrmecophaga . Protamandua was larger than the silky anteater, but smaller than a tamandua, while Neotamandua was larger, falling somewhere between a tamandua and a giant anteater . Protamandua did not appear to have feet specialized for terrestrial or arboreal locomotion, but it may have had a prehensile tail . Neotamandua, though, is unlikely to have had a prehensile tail and its feet were intermediate in form between those of the tamanduas and the giant anteater . The species Neotamandua borealis was suggested to be an ancestor of the latter . </P> <P> The giant anteater is the most terrestrial of the living anteater species . Its ancestors may originally have been adapted to arboreal life; the transition to life on the ground could have been aided by the expansion of open habitats such as savanna in South America and the availability there of colonial insects, such as termites, that provided a larger potential food source . Both the giant anteater and the southern tamandua are well represented in the fossil record of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene . </P> <P> The giant anteater can be identified by its large size, elongated muzzle, and long bushy tail . It has a total body length of 182--217 cm (5.97--7.12 ft). Males weigh 33--41 kg (73--90 lb) and females weigh 27--39 kg (60--86 lb), making the giant anteater the largest extant species in its suborder . The head of the giant anteater, at 30 cm (12 in) long, is particularly elongated, even when compared to other anteaters . Its tubular snout, which ends in its tiny mouth opening and nostrils, takes up most of its head . Its eyes and ears are relatively small . It has poor eyesight, but its sense of smell is 40 times more sensitive than that of humans . Giant anteaters can live around 16 years in captivity . </P>

How has the anteater adapted to its environment