LINNAEUS AND THE TAPIR 



the others being subsidiary and arranged on either side 

 of it. On the other hand, in the cow tribe, or Artio- 

 dactyle, there are two fingers or toes symmetrical with 

 regard to each other, and lying on either side of the 

 median axis, which passes between them. Different 

 though the outward form of the tapir is to both its 

 living relations, a survey of extinct types of all kinds 

 shows a group or groups in the past with nebulous out- 

 lines fading away at the edges into both horse-like 

 creature and unmistakable tapirs. The mountain cow, 

 as this animal by another misnomer is sometimes 

 termed, is called, after Linnaeus, Tapirus terrestris. 

 The specific name terrestris had, but has not, a point. 

 Linnaeus placed the tapir with the hippopotamus, and 

 distinguished one as " amphibius " from the other as 

 " terrestris," names signifying their varied modes of 

 life. As a matter of fact, the tapir is quite at home 

 in the water, and prefers marshy surroundings. De 

 Buff on terms him with some reason " a dull and gloomy 

 animal who never stirs out but in the night." The 

 French naturalist also comments, apropos of the tapir, 

 upon the poverty-stricken appearance of the fauna of 

 South America, as compared with Asia and Africa. It 

 is true now as it was when Buff on wrote, that no very 

 large beasts haunt the forests or plains of the South 

 American continent, but we no longer believe that this 

 is due to " something in the air." At the Zoo the 

 tapir is' a constant resident. Its mobile and even 

 flexible proboscis cannot really be compared with that 

 of the elephant, to which it apparently bears an exact 

 resemblance, differentiated only by its smaller size. 

 But the Roman-nosed " Shire " horse has a trace of a 

 similar proboscis in its fleshy and arched nose, which 

 overhangs more than in the Arab race. The proboscis, 

 in fact, is not a mark of likeness to the elephant, between 

 which and the tapir there is no relationship other than 



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