What is Xenarthra?
{{automatic taxobox | name = Xenarthrans | fossil_range = [[Paleocene]]&nbsp;–Recent, {{fossil range|59|0}} | image = Xenarthra.jpg | image_upright = 1.3 | image_caption = | taxon = Xenarthra | authority = [[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1889 | subdivision_ranks = Orders and suborders | subdivision = * Order [[Cingulata]] * Order [[Pilosa]] ** Suborder [[Folivora]] ** Suborder [[Vermilingua]] }} The '''Xenarthra''' is a superorder of [[mammal]]s. It is a group of [[placental mammal]]s (infraclass [[Eutheria]]). They live at present only in the [[Americas]], and are [[anteater]]s, tree [[sloth]]s, and [[armadillo]]s. Their origins can be traced back as far as the [[Palaeogene]] (about 60-65 million years ago (mya), shortly after the [[Mesozoic]]) in South America.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Archibald|first=J. David|title=Timing and biogeography of the eutherian radiation: fossils and molecules compared|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|date=August 2003|volume=28|issue=2|pages=350–359|doi=10.1016/s1055-7903(03)00034-4|pmid=12878471|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12878471}}</ref> Xenarthrans developed and diversified extensively in [[South America]] during its long period of isolation, invaded the [[Antilles]] by the early [[Miocene]], and then spread to [[Central America|Central]] and [[North America]] as part of the [[Great American Interchange]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woodburne|first=Michael|title=The Great American biotic interchange: dispersals, tectonics, climate, sea level, and holding pens|journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution|year=2010|volume=17|issue=4|pages=245–264|doi=10.1007/s10914-010-9144-8|pmid=21125025|pmc=2987556|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10914-010-9144-8|accessdate=18 October 2011}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Nearly all of the once abundant [[megafauna|big]] xenarthrans, such as [[ground sloth]]s, [[Glyptodontidae|glyptodonts]], and [[Pampatheriidae|pampatheres]] went [[extinct]] at the end of the [[Pleistocene]]