Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this web-site were taken by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Regis Nossent,
Alberto Esquivel, Arne Lesterhuis, José Luis Cartes, Rebecca Zarza and Hugo del Castillo and are used with their permission.
TAPIRIDAE - TAPIRS
One species, the only Paraguayan representative of the order Perissodactyla. Tapirs are the largest land mammals in the Neotropics with a robust, rounded body and thick muscular neck. The upper lip is elongated into a flexible proboscis which the animal uses to manipulate materials in the manner of an elephant´s trunk. The legs are disproportionately short and spindly and the tail is short and fat. The stomach is simple with a “blind colon” housing mutualistic micro-organisms that produce enzymes able to digest vegetable matter located between the large and small intestine. There are four toes on the forefeet and three on the hindfeet, the central third digit bearing the majority of the body weight. The first digit is absent on all feet, the vestigial fifth digit of the forefeet only marking in prints in very deep substrate. Each toe possesses a hoof-like nail. The canines are small. A persistent milk premolar is present in front of the premolars. Teeth have a complex structure with prominent transverse bridges. Tapirs produce a large quantity of faecal matter rich in vegetable matter.
Skull: Short nasal bones.
REFERENCES
Diaz MM & Barquez RM 2002 - Los Mamíferos de Jujuy, Argentina - LOLA
Emmons LH & Feer F 1999 - Mamíferos de los Bosques Húmedos de América Tropical - FAN Bolivia
Redford K 1992 - Mammals of the Neotropics Vol 2: The Southern Cone Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - University of Chicago Press.
