4 C 20 THE COMMON AMERICAN TAPIR. 



appears to be from three thousand to three thousand six hundred 

 feet above the level of the sea, while the other American species 

 (T. Roulinii) is only met with at a much greater elevation on 

 the Andes or Cordilleras.* 



The common American tapir is said to attain six feet in 

 length, from the extremity of its snout to the root of its 

 stumpy tail ; and the female, according to D'Azara, is larger 

 than the male, but M. Bajon says otherwise. The body is 

 nearly naked, and its colour is almost entirely blackish brown, 

 the only other colour being the pure white which is observable 

 on the sides of the lower lip, on the middle of the chin beneath, 

 on the upper edges of the ears, and at the junction of the hoofs. 

 The neck is flattened at the sides, and arched above, where it 

 is furnished with a mane of short hairs ; the eyes are small but 

 quick 5 the ears are pointed - } the snout is well adapted for 

 searching in the ground for roots, and it resembles a proboscis 

 in being prehensile and capable of elongation ; each jaw has 

 six incisor and two canine teeth, the latter separated by a 

 vacant space from the grinders, of which there are seven on 

 each side in the upper jaw, and six in the lower -, the front feet 

 have four toes, and the hind feet only three, each incased in a 

 hoof 5 the tail is a mere tubercle. Altogether, it is a very 

 interesting animal, for its form and nature seem to combine 

 the characters of several animals of this order. Thus, it 

 resembles the elephant in the flexibility and grasping power 

 of the elongated upper lip ; the horse in the outline of the body, 

 the shape of the head, the flattened arched neck, the possession 

 of a mane, and its general docility in a domesticated state ; and 

 the hog and hippopotamus in many of its habits and manners. 



It frequents the woods to feed on leaves, roots, and fruits ; 



* The recent zoology of America contains only two genera of the present 

 order, namely, the peccary (Dicotyles) and tapir (Tapirus) ; although its fossil 

 zoology contains an extinct species of elephant, four species of the extinct 

 genus Mastodon, and a gigantic animal only lately exhumed, and called 

 Toxodon, all belonging to this order. The first of the existing genera is the 

 only one peculiar to America, for a species of tapir (T. Indicus) inhabits 

 Malacca and the island of Sumatra. 



