﻿MAMMALS 
  OF 
  NORTHERN 
  COLOMBIA 
  — 
  ^HERSHKOVITZ 
  491 
  

  

  preserved 
  a 
  skull 
  only 
  of 
  the 
  Colombian 
  tapir 
  killed 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  Rio 
  

   Sinti 
  valley 
  3 
  kilometers 
  below 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  tributary 
  Rio 
  Verde, 
  

   and 
  a 
  skull 
  only 
  of 
  a 
  Baird's 
  tapir 
  killed 
  by 
  a 
  hunter 
  about 
  4 
  kilometers 
  

   lower 
  down 
  the 
  Simi, 
  near 
  the 
  confluence 
  of 
  the 
  Rio 
  Nain. 
  Within 
  

   the 
  same 
  area, 
  but 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  year 
  before, 
  a 
  hunter 
  killed 
  a 
  Baird's 
  

   tapir 
  while 
  it 
  was 
  feeding 
  on 
  fallen 
  fruit 
  of 
  the 
  cannon-ball 
  tree 
  

   {Couroupita 
  guianensis) 
  and 
  two 
  weeks 
  later 
  killed 
  a 
  Colombian 
  tapir 
  

   feeding 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  fruit. 
  The 
  hunter 
  preserved 
  the 
  skulls 
  and 
  they 
  

   were 
  identified 
  by 
  the 
  writer. 
  

  

  Earliest 
  authentic 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  Baird's 
  tapir 
  in 
  South 
  

   America 
  and 
  fii'st 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  western 
  

   Ecuador 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  a 
  photograph 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  kindly 
  loaned 
  to 
  the 
  

   writer 
  by 
  Belle 
  Benchley, 
  Executive 
  Secretary 
  of 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society 
  

   of 
  San 
  Diego. 
  Mrs. 
  Benchley 
  added 
  the 
  information 
  (in 
  litt.) 
  that 
  the 
  

   individual 
  photographed 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  San 
  Diego 
  Zoological 
  

   Park 
  by 
  Fred 
  Lewis, 
  who 
  "had 
  taken 
  a 
  small 
  boat 
  and 
  gone 
  up 
  the 
  

   river 
  at 
  Guayaquil, 
  Ecuador, 
  and 
  brought 
  it 
  back." 
  The 
  animal 
  died 
  

   in 
  captivity 
  in 
  1945. 
  

  

  Characters. 
  — 
  Those 
  given 
  for 
  the 
  subgenus. 
  See 
  also 
  general 
  exter- 
  

   nal 
  characters 
  mentioned 
  under 
  the 
  generic 
  heading. 
  Skin 
  of 
  adult 
  

   male 
  topotype 
  of 
  bairdii 
  from 
  Tiger 
  Hill, 
  C. 
  Z., 
  collected 
  by 
  E. 
  A. 
  

   Goldman, 
  is 
  dark 
  brown 
  with 
  pelage 
  thin, 
  stiff, 
  sleek, 
  the 
  skin 
  showing 
  

   thi'ough. 
  Two 
  skins 
  of 
  young 
  adults 
  from 
  Guatemala, 
  probably 
  topo- 
  

   typical 
  of 
  dovni, 
  are 
  darker, 
  nearly 
  black 
  on 
  dorsal 
  surface, 
  pelage 
  

   thick, 
  coarse, 
  comparatively 
  long, 
  and 
  completely 
  hiding 
  skin. 
  

  

  Measurements. 
  — 
  Of 
  the 
  topotype 
  of 
  bairdii 
  from 
  Tiger 
  Hill: 
  Total 
  

   length, 
  2,000 
  mm. 
  ; 
  tail, 
  70 
  mm. 
  ; 
  hind 
  foot, 
  372 
  mm. 
  Of 
  an 
  adult 
  from 
  

   Vera 
  Cruz, 
  Mexico 
  (ex 
  Goodwin, 
  Bull. 
  Amer. 
  Mus. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  vol. 
  87, 
  

   p. 
  450, 
  1946): 
  Total 
  length, 
  2,020 
  mm.; 
  tail, 
  70 
  mm.; 
  hind 
  foot, 
  375 
  

   mm. 
  ; 
  ear, 
  140 
  mm. 
  Skull 
  lengths 
  given 
  under 
  the 
  generic 
  heading. 
  

  

  Remarks. 
  — 
  That 
  bairdii 
  and 
  dowii 
  are 
  conspecific 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  

   indicated 
  by 
  Hatcher, 
  Simpson, 
  and, 
  finally, 
  by 
  Goodwin, 
  all 
  cited 
  

   above 
  in 
  the 
  synonym}'-. 
  It 
  is 
  possible, 
  however, 
  that 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  two 
  

   geographic 
  races, 
  one 
  the 
  typical 
  lowland 
  thinly 
  haired 
  form, 
  the 
  other 
  

   a 
  comparatively 
  thickly 
  haired 
  highland 
  race. 
  However, 
  additional 
  

   characters 
  to 
  support 
  what 
  are 
  ostensibly 
  individual 
  somatic 
  responses 
  

   to 
  cooler 
  climate 
  are 
  required 
  for 
  validating 
  the 
  name 
  Tapirus 
  bairdii 
  

   doioii 
  for 
  the 
  highland 
  tapir 
  of 
  western 
  Guatemala 
  and 
  El 
  Salvador. 
  

  

  The 
  two 
  Guatemalan 
  skins 
  described 
  above 
  were 
  mounted 
  specimens 
  

   exhibited 
  in 
  the 
  Colmnbian 
  Exposition 
  by 
  the 
  Guatemalan 
  Commis- 
  

   sion. 
  They 
  are 
  now 
  preserved 
  as 
  study 
  skins 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  National 
  Museum 
  and 
  numbered 
  61221 
  and 
  61222, 
  the 
  last 
  with 
  

   skull. 
  A 
  skull 
  only 
  of 
  a 
  yoimg 
  individual, 
  numbered 
  61221-B, 
  has 
  the 
  

   same 
  history 
  and 
  may 
  correspond 
  to 
  the 
  first 
  skin. 
  

  

  