Tapirus merriami
| Tapirus merriami Temporal range:
Middle-Late Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Tapiridae |
| Genus: | Tapirus |
| Species: | †T. merriami
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Tapirus merriami Frick, 1921
| |
Tapirus merriami, commonly called Merriam's tapir, is an
.Early history
Tapirs have a long history on the North American continent. Fossils of ancient tapirs in North America can be dated back to 50 million-year-old
extant tapirs existed in Southern California.[2]
During the Pleistocene epoch, four species of tapir are known to have inhabited North America. Along with T. merriami, Tapirus copei was found from Pennsylvania to Florida.[3]
First discovered and described in 1921 by American vertebrate
paleontologist Childs Frick, T. merriami lived at the same time, and perhaps many of the same locations, as T. californicus,[4] but is believed to have preferred more inland habitats of southern California and Arizona. Like T. californicus and all living tapirs, it is believed to have been a relatively solitary species. Of the four known Pleistocene-era tapirs found on the North American continent, T. merriami was the largest.[3] T. merriami was a stout-bodied herbivore with short legs, a large, tapering head, and a short, muscular proboscis adept at stripping leaves from shrubs.[5]
References
- ^ Eberle, J. 2005. A new "tapir" from Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada - Implications for northern high latitude palaeobiogeography and tapir palaeobiology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 277(4): 311–322.
- ^ M. Colbert and R. Schoch 1998. Tapiroidea and other moropomorphs. In: C. Janis, K. Scott, L. Jacobs, (eds) Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume I: Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates, and ungulate like mammals. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ ISBN 0-231-03733-3.
- ^ C. Janis (1984). Tapirs as living fossils. N. Eldredge and S. Stanley (eds.). New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 80–86.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Jefferson, George T. Contributions in Science: Late Cenozoic Tapirs (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) of Western North America