A tapir is a large, herbivorous mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four widely recognized extant species of tapirs, all of the family Tapiridae and the genus Tapirus. They are the Brazilian tapir, the Malayan tapir, the Baird's tapir, and the mountain tapir. In 2013, a group of researchers claimed to have identified a fifth species of tapir, the kabomani tapir. However, the existence of the kabomani tapir as a distinct species has been widely disputed, and recent genetic evidence further suggests it is actually nested within T. terrestris. The four species that have been evaluated (all except the kabomani) are all classified on the IUCN Red List as Endangered or Vulnerable. The tapirs have a number of extinct relatives in the superfamily Tapiroidea. The closest extant relatives of the tapirs are the other odd-toed ungulates, which include horses, donkeys, zebras and rhinoceroses.
Tapir Species
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.jpg "Bairds Tapir (Blue Fang).jpg (10 KB)")
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Star vs. The Forces of Evil
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