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 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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