The IUCN/SSC Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Specialist Group (ASASG, formerly Edentate Specialist Group) is a network of mammalogists and conservationists who work to understand and protect the thirty-one known species of sloths, anteaters and armadillos.

The ASASG is one of approximately one hundred and twenty Specialist Groups organized within the framework of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, an international alliance of conservationists which produces the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and a sweeping range of other conservation initiatives. Within this context, the ASASG works on behalf of the xenarthrans by supporting field research, conservation measures and educational programs in those regions where xenarthrans still occur.

As an SSC Specialist Group, the ASASG's primary responsibility is to evaluate the conservation status of all xenarthran species for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, working with current information from experts in the field.

The ASASG also directly supports field research and conservation through the Xenarthra Conservation Fund, a small-grants program designed to help students and researchers in countries that contain resident populations of xenarthrans..

The ASASG is chaired by Dr. Mariella Superina, armadillo expert and Assistant Researcher at the Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Dr. Superina is assisted by Dr. Flávia Miranda, Deputy Chair of the ASASG. Dr. Miranda is an anteater expert, president of Projeto Tamanduá, and works for the Global Health Programs / Wildlife Conservation Society in São Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Agustín M. Abba, armadillo expert and Assistant Researcher at the Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata in La Plata, Argentina, serves as the ASASG's Red List Authority.

For information about the members of the ASASG, please visit our Researcher's profiles section.