Tapirus

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.

Extant species

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.

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.

Tapirs suffered large-scale 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
• †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
• †Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino, 1902
• †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918
• †Tapirus webbi Hulbert, 2005

References

1. Malayan tapir
2. South American tapir
3. Baird's tapir
4. Tapir
5. Mountain tapir
6. Tapirus californicus
7. Tapirus veroensis
8. Giant tapir
9. Tapirus johnsoni
10. Tapirus simpsoni
11. Tapirus cristatellus
12. Tapirus oliverasi
13. Tapirus rondoniensis
14. Tapirus webbi
15. Tapirus mesopotamicus
16. Perissodactyla
17. Tapirus merriami
18. Tapirus haysii
19. Tapirus rioplatensis
20. Tapirus polkensis