Protamandua

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Early-Mid Miocene (Santacrucian-Mayoan)
~{{fossil range|17.5|11.6}}

| image = Protamandua rothi.jpg

| taxon = Protamandua

| authority = Ameghino 1904

}}

Protamandua is an extinct genus of anteaters. Its closest living relatives are the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and tamanduas (genus Tamandua). Fossils of Protamandua are restricted to the Santa Cruz Formation of Argentina.{{cite web|title=Protamandua|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43657|publisher=Paleontology Database|access-date=2012-07-23}} It may have been a common ancestor of Myrmecophaga and Tamandua.{{cite journal |title=A New Fossil Anteater (Edentata, Mammalia) from Colombia and Evolution of the Vermilingua |url=http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-effect-of-elevated-mutation-rates-on-the-evolution-of-cooperation-and-virulence-of-pseudomonas-aeruginosa-1/ |accessdate=2012-07-23 |author=Hirschfeld, S.E. |journal=Journal of Paleontology |date=1976 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=419–432 |jstor=1303522 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103203054/http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-effect-of-elevated-mutation-rates-on-the-evolution-of-cooperation-and-virulence-of-pseudomonas-aeruginosa-1/ |archive-date=2013-01-03 |url-status=dead }}