Including anteaters, armadillos and sloths. They were formerly classified as the order Edentata (meaning toothless) and put in the same order as the aardvark and pangolins, until they discovered that the order was polyphyletic, meaning that unrelated species were seen as a group and was invalid. Now, anteaters, armadillos and sloths are in the order called Xenarthra which means "strange joints". It was named this way because they all have unique vertebral joint structure unlike any other mammal. They are, for the most part, insectivores and herbivores, and are either terrestrial or arboreal in nature. They are found in the warmer climates of South America and North America, being found in Mexico and southern US in North America. Members of this family usually lack incisors or canines, and of those that have them their molars lack enamel. Their teeth are held in by a single root each. Xenarthrans have small brains. Anatomically, they have between 5-9 cervical vertebrae, whereas most other mammals have 7.  The smallest member of the Xenarthra is the Silky anteater, the largest is the Giant anteater.   Today, there are 29 species in 4 families; according to the fossil record there were at one time 12 families comprised of animals such as glyptodonts and giant ground sloths. The present-day families are:

 Dasypodidae (armadillos) 20 spp
 Myrmecophagidae (anteaters) 4 spp
 Bradypodidae (3-toed sloths) 3 spp
 Megalonychidae (2-toed sloths) 2 spp