Giant tapir

The giant tapir (Tapirus augustus)[1][2][3] is an extinct species of tapir that lived in southern China, Vietnam and Laos,[4] with reports suggesting it also lived in Taiwan,[5] Java, and potentially on Borneo.[6] The species has been recorded from Middle and Late Pleistocene.[7] There is only weak evidence for a Holocene survival.[8] Tapirus augustus was significantly larger than any living tapir,[1] with an estimated weight of about 623 kilograms (1,373 lb).[9] The species was also placed in its own genus of Megatapirus, however, it is now conventionally placed within Tapirus.

Giant tapir
Temporal range: Middle to Late Pleistocene
fossil skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Species:
†T. augustus
Binomial name
†Tapirus augustus
Matthew & Granger, 1923
Synonyms
  • Megatapirus augustus (Matthew & Granger, 1923)
A restoration of Tapirus augustus

References
  1. Matthew, William Diller; Granger, Walter; Andrews, Roy Chapman (1923). "New fossil mammals from the Pliocene of Sze-chuan, China. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 48, article 17". hdl:2246/1308. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen M.; Jacobs, Louis L. (1998-05-28). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Volume 1, Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate Like Mammals. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521355193.
  3. "Fossilworks: Tapirus (Megatapirus) augustus". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. Louys, Julien; Curnoe, Darren; Tong, Haowen (January 2007). "Characteristics of Pleistocene megafauna extinctions in Southeast Asia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 243 (1–2): 152–173. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.07.011.
  5. http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/3111QQPWEMU.pdf
  6. Chazine, J.-M. (2005). "Rock art, burials, and habitations: Caves in East Kalimantan" (PDF). Asian Perspectives. 44 (1): 219–230. doi:10.1353/asi.2005.0006. hdl:10125/17232. S2CID 53372873.
  7. Tong, Haowen (January 2005). "Dental characters of the Quaternary tapirs in China, their significance in classification and phylogenetic assessment". Geobios. 38 (1): 139–150. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2003.07.006.
  8. Turvey, Samuel T.; Tong, Haowen; Stuart, Anthony J.; Lister, Adrian M. (September 2013). "Holocene survival of Late Pleistocene megafauna in China: a critical review of the evidence". Quaternary Science Reviews. 76: 156–166. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.030.
  9. Maclaren, Jamie A; Hulbert, Richard C; Wallace, Steven C; Nauwelaerts, Sandra (2018-10-05). "A morphometric analysis of the forelimb in the genus Tapirus (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) reveals influences of habitat, phylogeny and size through time and across geographical space". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 184 (2): 499–515. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly019. ISSN 0024-4082.


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