Tapir

An accidental body plan

Tapirs look like they could be a large pig or small hairless bear — stocky, barrel-shaped, short-legged. But they are odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla), making them more closely related to horses and rhinoceroses than to pigs or hippos. Their evolutionary lineage extends back 55 million years with little fundamental change to the body plan.

The short, prehensile trunk (properly a proboscis) is the tapir’s most distinctive feature. It’s longer and more mobile than a horse’s nose but far shorter than an elephant’s trunk. It can grasp and pull leaves, shoots, and aquatic vegetation to the mouth with considerable dexterity.

Four living species

• Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) — South America; most common
• Mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) — Andean cloud forests; smallest; classified EN (Endangered)
• Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) — Central America; EN (Endangered)
• Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) — Southeast Asia; dramatically black-and-white patterned; EN (Endangered)

Three of the four species are Endangered; only the Lowland tapir is Vulnerable (less severe). All face habitat loss.

Striped calves

Tapir calves are born with white spots and stripes on a brown background — a pattern that serves as camouflage in dappled forest light. This disruptive coloration fades after 6–8 months as the calf’s adult coat grows in.

A seed disperser

Tapirs are among the most important seed dispersers in tropical forests. Their large gut can carry and transport seeds of hundreds of plant species over distances of kilometers. In forests where large mammals have been hunted out, certain tree species fail to regenerate because their seeds are no longer dispersed. Conserving tapirs means conserving forests.