Tapirus

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 Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Tapirus bairdii Tapirus indicus Tapirus pinchaque Tapirus terrestris For extinct species, see text

Tapirus is a genus which contains the three living American 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

!Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution	Notes
	Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865)	Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir)	Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America	Includes Kabomani tapir (Tapirus kabomani).
	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 West.
	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, 1819	Malayan tapir (also called the Asian tapir, Oriental tapir or Indian tapir)	Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand	May 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.

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 copei Simpson, 1945
• †Tapirus cristatellus Winge, 1906
• †Tapirus greslebini Rusconi, 1934
• †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