Tapirus Explained
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.[1]
Extant species
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|
| Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir) | Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865) | Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| 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.[2] [3]
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).[4] The youngest tapir in Europe, Tapirus arvernensis became extinct at the end of the Pliocene, around 2.6 million years ago.[5] Tapirus dispersed into South America during the Early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange, around 2.6-1 million years ago.[6]
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
- †Tapirus augustus Matthew & Granger, 1923 - Formerly 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[7] [8]
- †Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1860
- †Tapirus rioplatensis Cattoi, 1957
- †Tapirus rondoniensis Holanda et al., 2011
- †Tapirus sanyuanensis Huang & Fang, 1991
- †Tapirus simpsoni Schultz et al., 1975
- †Tapirus sinensis Owen, 1870[9]
- †Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino, 1902
- †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918
- †Tapirus webbi Hulbert, 2005
Notes and References
- Book: Groves, C.P. . Colin Groves . Grubb, P. . Peter Grubb (zoologist) . 2011 . Ungulate Taxonomy . Baltimore, Maryland . . 18–20 . 978-1-4214-0093-8 . 2011008168 . 708357723 . 25220152M . https://web.archive.org/web/20191226165759/http://zmmu.msu.ru/files/%D0%91%D0%B8%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0%20%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0/grubb-groves-2011_taxonomy_ungulates.pdf . 2019-12-26 . live.
- 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. en. 81. 2. 163–175. 10.1016/j.mambio.2015.11.001. 1616-5047. Ruiz-García. Manuel. Castellanos. Armando. Bernal. Luz Agueda. Pinedo-Castro. Myreya. Kaston. Franz. Shostell. Joseph M.. 2016MamBi..81..163R .
- Web site: All About the Terrific Tapir Tapir Specialist Group. Tapir Specialist Group. en-US. 2018-12-01.
- 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 . en . 21 . 1 . 10.1080/14772019.2023.2250117 . 2023JSPal..2150117P . 1477-2019.
- Cirilli . Omar . Pandolfi . Luca . Bernor . Raymond L. . December 2020 . The Villafranchian perissodactyls of Italy: knowledge of the fossil record and future research perspectives . Geobios . en . 63 . 1–21 . 2020Geobi..63....1C . 10.1016/j.geobios.2020.09.001 . 228974817.
- 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 . 10.1007/s10914-012-9196-z . 15780542 . free . 11336/18792.
- 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 . 10.1007/s10914-012-9196-z . 254697945 . free . 11336/18792.
- Holanda . E.C. . Rincón . A.D. . Tapirs from the Pleistocene of Venezuela . Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . 2012 . 57 . 3 . 463–473 . 10.4202/app.2011.0001 . 54846719 . free .
- Tong . H. . On fossil remains of Early Pleistocene tapir (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from Fanchang, Anhui . Chinese Science Bulletin . 2002 . 47 . 7 . 586–590 . 10.1360/02tb9135 . 3 December 2024 . 2002ChSBu..47..586T . 128416226 .
