Tapir
Herbivorous mammal native to South and Central America, and Southeast Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Tapir?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Tapirs (/ˈteɪpər, ˈteɪpɪər, təˈpɪər/ TAY-pər, TAY-peer, tə-PEER)[8] are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America and Southeast Asia. They are one of three extant branches of Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), alongside equines and rhinoceroses. Only a single genus, Tapirus, is currently extant. Tapirs migrated into South America during the Pleistocene epoch from North America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama as part of the Great American Interchange.[9] Tapirs were formerly present across North America, but became extinct in the region at the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago.
Tapir | |
---|---|
Tapir species, from top left clockwise: South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Clade: | Tapiromorpha |
Suborder: | Ceratomorpha |
Superfamily: | Tapiroidea |
Family: | Tapiridae Gray, 1821[2][3] |
Type genus | |
Tapirus Brisson, 1762 | |
Genera[4] | |
About 15
| |
Synonyms[3] | |
|