Tapirus polkensis

Tapirus polkensis
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Early Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Species: T. polkensis
Binomial name
Tapirus polkensis
Olsen, 1860

Tapirus polkensis, the pygmy tapir, is a small prehistoric tapir that lived in North America during the Late Miocene and early Pliocene.[1] T. polkensis may lived in swamps, where it would have been preyed on by ancestors of modern American crocodiles. T. polkensis had an estimated mass of around 125 kg (276 lb),[1] making it smaller than any extant tapir, save for the recently discovered little black tapir, T. kabomani, which weighs 110 kg (240 lb)

References

  1. 1 2 Richard C. Hulbert Jr., Steven C. Wallace, Walter E. Klippel & Paul W. Parmalee (2009). "Cranial morphology and systematics of an extraordinary sample of the Late Neogene dwarf tapir, Tapirus polkensis (Olsen)". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (2): 238–262. doi:10.1666/08-062.1.


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