Tapirus

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Tapirus
Temporal range: 16–0  Ma
South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris).JPG
South American tapir, a type species of Tapirus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Brisson, 1762 [1]
Type species
Hippopotamus terrestris
(=today is Tapirus terrestris)
Species

For extinct species, see text

Synonyms [1]
About 12

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]

Contents

Extant species

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Baird's tapir (92135).jpg Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir)Tapirus bairdii(Gill, 1865)Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America.
Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) male (27546923604).jpg 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
Tapirus pinchaque portrait.jpg 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.
Schabrackentapir Tapirus indicus Tiergarten-Nuernberg-1.jpg Malayan tapir (also called the Asian tapir, Oriental tapir or Indian tapir)Tapirus indicus(Desmarest, 1819)Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand

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. [4] [5]

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

References

  1. 1 2 Grubb, P. (2005). "Order Perissodactyla". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 633. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 Groves, C.P.; Grubb, P. (2011). Ungulate Taxonomy (PDF). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.  18–20. ISBN   978-1-4214-0093-8. LCCN   2011008168. OCLC   708357723. OL   25220152M. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Hulbert, Richard C. (2010). "A new early Pleistocene tapir (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) from Florida, with a review of Blancan tapirs from the state" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 49 (3): 67–126. doi:10.58782/flmnh.ezjr9001.
  4. 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. Bibcode:2016MamBi..81..163R. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2015.11.001. ISSN   1616-5047.
  5. "All About the Terrific Tapir | Tapir Specialist Group". Tapir Specialist Group. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  6. Pandolfi, Luca; Sorbelli, Leonardo; Oms, Oriol; Rodriguez-Salgado, Pablo; Campeny, Gerard; de Soler, Bruno Gómez; Grandi, Federica; Agustí, Jordi; Madurell-Malapeira, Joan (January 2023). "The Tapirus from Camp dels Ninots (NE Iberia): implications for morphology, morphometry and phylogeny of Neogene Tapiridae". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 21 (1). Bibcode:2023JSPal..2150117P. doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2250117. ISSN   1477-2019.
  7. Cirilli, Omar; Pandolfi, Luca; Bernor, Raymond L. (December 2020). "The Villafranchian perissodactyls of Italy: knowledge of the fossil record and future research perspectives" . Geobios. 63: 1–21. Bibcode:2020Geobi..63....1C. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2020.09.001. S2CID   228974817.
  8. Holanda, Elizete Celestino; Ferrero, Brenda Soledad (March 2013). "Reappraisal of the Genus Tapirus (Perissodactyla, Tapiridae): Systematics and Phylogenetic Affinities of the South American Tapirs". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 20 (1): 33–44. doi:10.1007/s10914-012-9196-z. hdl: 11336/18792 . S2CID   15780542.
  9. 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. hdl: 11336/18792 . S2CID   254697945.
  10. 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.
  11. 1 2 Tong, H. (2002). "On fossil remains of Early Pleistocene tapir (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from Fanchang, Anhui" . Chinese Science Bulletin. 47 (7): 586–590. Bibcode:2002ChSBu..47..586T. doi:10.1360/02tb9135 (inactive 12 July 2025). S2CID   128416226.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)