Tapirus polkensis

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 have 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)

Tapirus polkensis
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Early Pliocene
Scientific classification
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T. polkensis
Binomial name
Tapirus polkensis
Olsen, 1860

References

  1. 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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