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Tapirus (tapir)
Taxonomy
Tapirus was named by Brisson (1762) [conserved in ICZN Opinion 1894; see also ICZN opinion 1998
type is T. terrestris, which is strictly South American; also attributed to Brünnich 1772]. It is extant. Its type is Elasmognathus bairdii. It is the type genus of Tapiridae.
It was assigned to Tapirina by Gray (1825); to Perissodactyla by Owen (1848); to Pachydermata by Leidy (1860); and to Tapiridae by Brisson (1762), Cope (1881), Ameghino (1902), Hay (1902), Scott (1913), Olson (1940), Cattoi (1957), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Carroll (1988), Prothero and Schoch (1989), Colbert and Schoch (1998), Holbrook (1999), Colbert (2005), Salles et al. (2006), Hulbert and Whitmore (2006), Hulbert (2010), Holanda et al. (2011) and Eshelman et al. (2018).
It was assigned to Tapirina by Gray (1825); to Perissodactyla by Owen (1848); to Pachydermata by Leidy (1860); and to Tapiridae by Brisson (1762), Cope (1881), Ameghino (1902), Hay (1902), Scott (1913), Olson (1940), Cattoi (1957), Kurten and Anderson (1980), Carroll (1988), Prothero and Schoch (1989), Colbert and Schoch (1998), Holbrook (1999), Colbert (2005), Salles et al. (2006), Hulbert and Whitmore (2006), Hulbert (2010), Holanda et al. (2011) and Eshelman et al. (2018).
Species
T. (Helicotapirus), T. (Megatapirus), T. (Tapiralum), T. antiquus, T. arvernensis, T. bairdii, T. balkanicus, T. californicus, T. cristatellus, T. greslebini, T. indicus, T. johnsoni, T. kabomani, T. merriami, T. mesopotamicus, T. oliverasi, T. pinchaque, T. polkensis, T. priscus, T. rioplatensis, T. rondoniensis, T. sanyuanensis, T. simpsoni, T. sinensis, T. tarijensis, T. terrestris, T. webbi
Species lacking formal opinion data
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1762 | Tapirus Brisson |
| 1799 | Tapir Blumenbach |
| 1825 | Tapirus Gray p. 342 |
| 1827 | Syspotamus Billberg |
| 1830 | Rhinochoerus Wagler |
| 1848 | Tapirus Owen p. 139 |
| 1860 | Tapirus Leidy p. 106 |
| 1872 | Tapyra Liais |
| 1873 | Cinchacus Gray |
| 1881 | Tapirus Cope p. 395 |
| 1902 | Tapirus Ameghino |
| 1902 | Tapirus Hay p. 628 |
| 1913 | Acrocodia Goldman p. 65 |
| 1913 | Tapirus Scott p. 291 |
| 1940 | Tapirus Olson p. 53 |
| 1954 | Pinchacus Hershkovitz |
| 1957 | Tapirus Cattoi p. 16 |
| 1980 | Tapirus Kurten and Anderson p. 292 |
| 1988 | Tapirus Carroll |
| 1989 | Tapirus Prothero and Schoch p. 534 |
| 1998 | Tapirus Colbert and Schoch p. 577 |
| 1999 | Tapirus Holbrook p. 346 |
| 2005 | Tapirus Colbert p. 5 |
| 2006 | Tapirus Hulbert and Whitmore p. 18 |
| 2006 | Tapirus Salles et al. p. 8 |
| 2010 | Tapirus Hulbert p. 78 |
| 2011 | Tapirus Holanda et al. p. 113 |
| 2018 | Tapirus Eshelman et al. p. 9 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
G. Tapirus Brisson 1762 [tapir]
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Subg. †Tapirus (Helicotapirus) Hulbert 2010
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†Tapirus (Helicotapirus) lundeliusi Hulbert 2010
†Tapirus (Helicotapirus) veroensis Sellards 1918
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Invalid names: Tapirus excelsus Simpson 1945 [synonym], Tapirus tennesseae Hay 1920 [synonym]
Invalid names: Tapirus veroensis sellardsi Simpson 1929 [invalid subgroup]
Subg. †Tapirus (Megatapirus) Matthew and Granger 1923
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†Tapirus (Megatapirus) augustus Matthew and Granger 1923
†Tapirus antiquus Kaup 1833
†Tapirus arvernensis Croizet and Jobert 1828
Tapirus bairdii Gill 1865 [Baird's tapir]
†Tapirus balkanicus Spassov and Ginsburg 1999
†Tapirus californicus Merriam 1912
†Tapirus cristatellus Winge 1906
†Tapirus greslebini Rusconi 1934
Tapirus indicus Desmarest 1819 [Malayan tapir]
†Tapirus johnsoni Schultz et al. 1975
Tapirus kabomani Cozzuol et al. 2013 [kabomani tapir]
†Tapirus merriami Frick 1921
†Tapirus mesopotamicus Ferrero and Noriega 2007
†Tapirus oliverasi Ubilla 1983 [tapir]
Tapirus pinchaque Roulin 1829 [mountain tapir]
†Tapirus polkensis Olsen 1960
†Tapirus priscus Kaup 1833
†Tapirus rioplatensis Cattoi 1957
†Tapirus rondoniensis Holanda et al. 2011
†Tapirus sanyuanensis Huang and Fang 1991
†Tapirus simpsoni Schultz et al. 1975
†Tapirus sinensis Owen 1870
†Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino 1902
Tapirus terrestris Linnaeus 1758 [Brazilian tapir]
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Tapirus terrestris colombianus Hershkovitz 1954
Tapirus terrestris spegazzinii Ameghino 1909
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Invalid names: Tapirus anulipes Hermann 1924 [synonym]
Tapirus terrestris terrestris Linnaeus 1758
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Invalid names: Hydrochaerus tapir Erxleben 1777 [synonym], Tapir americanus Gmelin 1788 [synonym], Tapir anta Zimmermann 1780 [synonym], Tapir maypuri Roulin 1829 [synonym], Tapir suillus Blumenbach 1799 [synonym], Tapirus americanus fossilis Leidy 1848 [nomen oblitum], Tapirus laurillardi Gray 1867 [synonym], Tapirus rufus Fischer 1814 [synonym], Tapirus sabatyra Liais 1872 [synonym], Tapirus tapirus Merriam 1895 [synonym]
†Tapirus webbi Hulbert 2005 [tapir]
Invalid names: Acrocodia Goldman 1913 [synonym], Cinchacus Gray 1873 [synonym], Pinchacus Hershkovitz 1954 [synonym], Rhinochoerus Wagler 1830 [synonym], Syspotamus Billberg 1827 [synonym], Tapir Blumenbach 1799 [synonym], Tapyra Liais 1872 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Body mass estimates
| estimate | equation | reference |
|---|---|---|
| 349.8 kg | Mammalia femur diameter | Gingerich 1990 |
| 221.9 kg | Mammalia humerus diameter | Gingerich 1990 |
| 200.2 kg | Mammalia tibia diameter | Gingerich 1990 |
| mean: 249.5 kg | ||
Measurements
| part | N | mean | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| femur diameter | 1 | 42.7 | |||||
| humerus diameter | 1 | 39.2 | |||||
| radius diameter | 1 | 21.7 | |||||
| tibia diameter | 1 | 34.0 |
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| Source: g = genus, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: MacFadden and Cerling 1996, Lillegraven 1979, Hendy et al. 2009, Ji et al. 2002, Carroll 1988 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Rupelian to the top of the Holocene or 33.90000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 28.1 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 28.1 Ma
Collections (285 total)
Oldest occurrences | |||
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rupelian | Belgium (Antwerpen) | Tapirus sp. (52047) | |
| Neogene | Myanmar | Tapirus sp. (215569) | |
| Burdigalian | Austria | Tapirus sp. (65161) | |
| Barstovian | USA (Nebraska) | Tapiravus polkensis (18275 18442) | |
| Barstovian | USA (South Dakota) | Tapirus sp. (18117) | |
| MN 5 | Turkey (Bursa) | Tapirus sp. (68547) | |
| Langhian - Serravallian | Poland (Silesia) | Tapirus telleri (42594) | |
| Langhian - Tortonian | France (Maine-et-Loire) | Tapirus priscus (142149) | |
| Serravallian - Tortonian | France (Maine-et-Loire) | Tapirus priscus (54136) | |
| MN 6 - MN 7 + 8 | Slovakia | Tapirus telleri (69712) | |
| Clarendonian | USA (Nebraska) | Tapirus johnsoni (18257 18315 18401 18410 18447) Tapirus sp. (18314) | |
| Clarendonian | USA (Kansas) | Tapirus sp. (18186) | |
| Clarendonian | USA (South Dakota) | Tapirus sp. (18268) | |
| Late/Upper Clarendonian | USA (Nebraska) | Tapirus johnsoni (18327) | |
| Late/Upper Clarendonian | USA (Florida) | Tapirus simpsoni (18554) | |
| Clarendonian - Hemphillian | USA (Nebraska) | Tapirus johnsoni (18404) | |
| Tortonian | China (Yunnan) | Tapirus sp. (11798) | |
| Tortonian - Zanclean | USA (Florida) | Tapirus polkensis (18548) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Vietnam (Son La) | Tapirus sp. (92771) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Greece (Kozani) | Tapirus sp. (202257) | |