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.<ref name="UT">Template:Cite book</ref>

Extant species

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Baird's tapir (92135).jpg	Baird's tapir (also called the Central American tapir)	Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865)	Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America.
File:Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) male (27546923604).jpg	South American tapir (also called the Brazilian tapir or lowland tapir)	Tapirus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758)	Venezuela, Colombia, and the Guianas in the north to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the south, to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the West
File:Tapirus pinchaque portrait.jpg	Mountain tapir (also called the woolly tapir)	Tapirus pinchaque (Roulin, 1829)	Eastern and Central Cordilleras mountains in Colombia, Ecuador, and the far north of Peru.
File:Schabrackentapir Tapirus indicus Tiergarten-Nuernberg-1.jpg	Malayan tapir (also called the Asian tapir, Oriental tapir or Indian tapir)	Tapirus indicus (Desmarest, 1819)	Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand

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.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Evolution

The genus Tapirus first appeared during the Middle Miocene (around 16-10 million years ago), known fossils in both Europe (T. telleri) and North America (T. johnsoni and T. polkensis).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The youngest tapir in Europe, Tapirus arvernensis became extinct at the end of the Pliocene, around 2.6 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Tapirus dispersed into South America during the Early Pleistocene as part of the Great American Interchange, around 2.6-1 million years ago.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Tapirs suffered considerable 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<ref name="Holanda">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• †Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1860
• †Tapirus rioplatensis Cattoi, 1957
• †Tapirus rondoniensis Holanda et al., 2011
• †Tapirus sanyuanensis Huang & Fang, 1991<ref name=Tong />
• †Tapirus simpsoni Schultz et al., 1975
• †Tapirus sinensis Owen, 1870<ref name=Tong>Template:Cite journal</ref>
• †Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino, 1902
• †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918
• †Tapirus webbi Hulbert, 2005