Tapirus
Tapirus | |
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South American tapir, a type species of Tapirus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Tapiridae |
Genus: | Tapirus Brisson, 1762[1] |
Type species | |
Linnaeus, 1758
| |
Species | |
For extinct species, see text | |
Synonyms[1] | |
About 12
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Tapirus is a genus of tapir which contains the living tapir species. The Malayan tapir is usually included in Tapirus as well, although some authorities have moved it into its own genus, Acrocodia.[2]
Extant species
Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
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Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir) | Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865) | Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America. |
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South American tapir (also called the Brazilian tapir or lowland tapir) | Tapirus terrestris ( Linnaeus, 1758 ) |
Venezuela, Colombia, and the Guianas in the north to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the south, to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the West |
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Mountain tapir (also called the woolly tapir) | Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin, 1829) | Eastern and Central Cordilleras mountains in Colombia, Ecuador, and the far north of Peru. |
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Malayan tapir (also called the Asian tapir, Oriental tapir or Indian tapir) | Tapirus indicus (Desmarest, 1819) | Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand |
The
Evolution
The genus Tapirus first appeared during the Middle Miocene (around 16-10 million years ago), known fossils in both Europe (T. telleri) and North America (T. johnsoni and T. polkensis).[6] The youngest tapir in Europe, Tapirus arvernensis became extinct at the end of the Pliocene, around 2.6 million years ago.[7] Tapirus dispersed into South America during the Early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange, around 2.6-1 million years ago.[8]
Tapirs suffered considerable extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene, and went completely extinct north of southern Mexico.
Fossil species
- †Tapirus arvernensis Croizet & Jobert, 1828
- †Megatapirus
- †Tapirus californicus Merriam, 1912
- †Tapirus cristatellus Winge, 1906
- †Tapirus greslebini Rusconi, 1934
- †Tapirus haysii Simpson, 1945
- †Tapirus johnsoni Schultz et al., 1975
- †Tapirus lundeliusi Hulbert, 2010
- †Tapirus merriami Frick, 1921
- †Tapirus mesopotamicus Ferrero & Noriega, 2007
- †Tapirus oliverasi Ubilla, 1983 - Invalid[9][10]
- †Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1860
- †Tapirus rioplatensis Cattoi, 1957
- †Tapirus rondoniensis Holanda et al., 2011
- †Tapirus sanyuanensis Huang & Fang, 1991[11]
- †Tapirus simpsoni Schultz et al., 1975
- †Tapirus sinensis Owen, 1870[11]
- †Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino, 1902
- †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918
- †Tapirus webbi Hulbert, 2005
References
- ^ OCLC 62265494.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-26.
- ^ .
- ISSN 1616-5047.
- ^ "All About the Terrific Tapir | Tapir Specialist Group". Tapir Specialist Group. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
- ISSN 1477-2019.
- S2CID 228974817.
- S2CID 15780542.
- S2CID 254697945.
- S2CID 54846719.
- ^ S2CID 128416226.)
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: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link