Tapir Temporal range: Early Oligocene[1] – Recent
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Tapir species, from top left clockwise: South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) and Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Clade: | Tapiromorpha |
Suborder: | Ceratomorpha |
Superfamily: | Tapiroidea |
Family: | Tapiridae Gray, 1821[2][3] |
Type genus | |
Tapirus Brisson, 1762
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Genera[7] | |
About 15
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Synonyms[3] | |
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Tapirs (/ˈteɪpər/ TAY-pər)[8][9] are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae.[3] They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America and Southeast Asia. They are one of three extant branches of Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), alongside equines and rhinoceroses. Only a single genus, Tapirus, is currently extant. Tapirs migrated into South America during the Pleistocene epoch from North America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama as part of the Great American Interchange.[10] Tapirs were formerly present across North America, but became extinct in the region at the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago.
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