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Why are pangolins not closely related to armadillos despite their similar armour?

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Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus). — armadillo Nine-banded armadillo (*Dasypus novemcinctus*).

Pangolins and armadillos are not closely related despite their shared appearance of being armoured mammals. Their physical similarities are the result of convergent evolution, a process where unrelated species evolve similar traits independently due to facing comparable environmental pressures.1

While they were once grouped together in the order Edentata due to superficial likenesses, they are now classified in entirely different orders based on fundamental anatomical differences.2

Armadillos belong to the order Cingulata within the magnorder Xenarthra, a group that originated in South America and is characterized by unique joints in their lower vertebrae.34
Pangolins belong to the order Pholidota and are found in Asia and Africa.2

The armour of an armadillo consists of bony plates covered by tough scales derived from skin tissue, whereas pangolins possess distinct, overlapping scales. Their evolutionary paths are distinct, and their resemblance is a classic example of how different lineages can adapt to similar ecological niches in unrelated ways.241