Tapirus

Tapirus is a genus of tapir which contains the three living American tapir species. They are native to the Americas. The Malayan tapir is usually included in Tapirus as well, although some authorities have moved it into its own genus, Acrocodia.[1]

Tapirus
Temporal range: Miocene–Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Brisson, 1762
Type species
Hippopotamus terrestris
Species

For extinct species, see text

Extant species
!ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistributionNotes
Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865)Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir)Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America.
Tapirus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758)South American tapir (also called the Brazilian tapir or lowland tapir)Venezuela, Colombia, and the Guianas in the north to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the south, to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the WestIncludes Kabomani tapir (Tapirus kabomani).
Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin, 1829)Mountain tapir (also called the woolly tapir)Eastern and Central Cordilleras mountains in Colombia, Ecuador, and the far north of Peru.
Tapirus indicus Desmarest, 1819Malayan tapir (also called the Asian tapir, Oriental tapir or Indian tapir)Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and ThailandMay be placed in Acrocodia

The Kabomani tapir was at one point recognized as another living member of the genus, but is now considered to be nested within T. terrestris.[2][3]

Evolution

Tapirus first appeared in the Late Miocene in North America, with Tapirus webbi perhaps the oldest known fossil species.

Tapirus spread into South America and Eurasia during the Pliocene. It has been suggested that the tapirs that inhabited North America during the Late Pleistocene may be derived from a South American species that remigrated north, perhaps Tapirus cristatellus.[4]

Tapirs suffered large-scale extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene, and went completely extinct north of southern Mexico.

Fossil species

References
  1. Groves, C.; Grubb, P (2011). Ungulate taxonomy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 18.
  2. Ruiz-García, Manuel; Castellanos, Armando; Bernal, Luz Agueda; Pinedo-Castro, Myreya; Kaston, Franz; Shostell, Joseph M. (2016-03-01). "Mitogenomics of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque, Tapiridae, Perissodactyla, Mammalia) in Colombia and Ecuador: Phylogeography and insights into the origin and systematics of the South American tapirs". Mammalian Biology. 81 (2): 163–175. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2015.11.001. ISSN 1616-5047.
  3. "All About the Terrific Tapir | Tapir Specialist Group". Tapir Specialist Group. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  4. Holanda, E.C.; Ferrero, B.S. (2012). "Reappraisal of the Genus Tapirus (Perissodactyla, Tapiridae): Systematics and Phylogenetic Affinities of the South American Tapirs". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 20: 33–44. doi:10.1007/s10914-012-9196-z. S2CID 254697945.
  5. Holanda, E.C.; Rincón, A.D. (2012). "Tapirs from the Pleistocene of Venezuela". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 57 (3): 463–473. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0001. S2CID 54846719.
  6. Tong, H. (2002). "On fossil remains of Early Pleistocene tapir (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from Fanchang, Anhui". Chinese Science Bulletin. 47 (7): 586–590. doi:10.1360/02tb9135. S2CID 128416226.
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