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Eurotamandua ("european Tamandua") is an extinct genus of mammal from extinct family Eurotamanduidae that lived during the middle Eocene.
A single fossil is known, coming from the Messel Pit in southwestern Germany. Eurotamandua was about long. Most palaeontologists now classify Eurotamandua as a pangolin. When its fossils were first discovered, Eurotamandua was originally thought to be an anteater, 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 "" joints found in all xenarthrans, including .
There is still much ambiguity in the taxonomy of all mammals prior to the Eocene, 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 from the beginning of the Cenozoic era until the formation of the Panama land bridge 3 million years ago, after which they spread to North America (but never to Eurasia or Africa). Another possibility is that Eurotamandua belongs to Afrotheria.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 Crown group-pangolin, closer to crown pangolins than Palaeanodonta and Euromanis but more basal than Eomanis and Necromanis.
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