Tapirus Pinchaque Portrait

''Tapirus'' is a genus of tapir 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

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q128001

Mammal genera
Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson
Tapirs