Mammals

Tapirs are perissodactyls (odd-toed ungulates), a group of herbivores that also includes rhinos and horses. The family Tapiridae comprises four living species in the single genus Tapirus: Tapirus pinchaque (mountain tapir), T. terrestris (lowland tapir), T. bairdii (Baird’s tapir) and T. indicus (Asian or Malayan tapir). The origins of the Tapiridae can be traced back at least fifty million years. Fossil evidence indicates that the tapirs are most closely related to rhinos. Modern tapirs closely resemble the ancestral perissodactyl condition. They have changed little in body shape over the past 35 million years, although the proboscis probably did not develop until the last few million years. Prehistoric tapirs inhabited Europe, North America and south-east Asia. The genus Tapirus can be traced back to the early Miocene (at least 8 million years ago). Of the four species which survive today, three migrated from Central to South America across the Panamanian Land Bridge 2-3 million years ago. The fourth species, the Malayan tapir, remains in south-east Asia. Eight other tapirid genera have been described, all of which became extinct before the Pliocene (7 million years ago) with the exception of Megatapirus, a giant tapir found in Pleistocene deposits of Sichuan Province, China. There is some controversy regarding the relationship between the four living tapir species. The South American tapirs are thought to be more closely related to one another than they are to the Asian tapir, and the mountain tapir is thought to be most closely related to the lowland tapir.

Head and body length: 180-250 cm
Shoulder height: 73-120 cm
Tail length: 5-13 cm

Baird’s tapir is the largest of the New World tapirs, and the largest indigenous mammal in Central America. It is characterised by a distinctive snout, which is elongated into a fleshy, flexible proboscis, like a shortened version of an elephant’s trunk. Young tapirs have a reddish-brown coat marked with strips and spots for camouflage. These markings are lost as the animal grows – the thick hide of adult tapirs is a dark brown or grey colour and covered in sparse bristly hairs. Some individuals develop a long, narrow mane, although this is not always visible. The eyes are small and flush with the side of the head, and the oval shaped ears are white-tipped and relatively immobile. Tapirs have stocky, barrel-shaped bodies and short powerful legs that are well suited for rapid movement through thick underbrush. They have three splayed toes on each foot, and a fourth, smaller digit on each front foot for additional support on soft ground.

The species was once abundant throughout Central America, from southeast Mexico to Panama and northwest Colombia. It is now extinct in parts of its former range (e.g. El Salvador) and persists in relatively small numbers in pockets of remaining habitat in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.