TAPIRS. 457 



The Tapirs. 

 Family Tapirid^e. 



The tapirs are the least specialised of all the existing Odd-toed Ungulates, 

 and their peculiarly antediluvian appearance would indeed suggest this even to the 

 unscientific observer. Their generalised character is indicated by the circumstance 

 that they differ from all other living members of the same great group by having 

 four toes to their fore-feet, although their hind-feet resemble those of the rhinoceroses 

 in being tridactyle. In the fore-feet the three main toes correspond to the three 

 middle fingers of the human hand, while the small external one represents the 

 fifth, or little finger. The tapirs are further characterised by the production of the 

 extremity of the muzzle into a short cylindrical proboscis or trunk, at the extremity 

 of which are situated the nostrils. The general form of the body is heavy and 

 ungainly, the limbs being relatively short and stout, and the tail scarcely more 

 than a rudiment. The eyes are small in proportion to the size of the head, and 

 the erect and oval ears of moderate size. The thick skin is smooth and covered 

 with a r-ather scanty coat of short hair, which is usually of uniform colour. 



The skull, as seen in the figure of the skeleton on p. 454, is rather short, 

 narrow, and high, its most distinctive features being the enormous size of the 

 aperture of the nose, and the absence of any bony bar dividing the socket of the 

 eye from the great channel on the side of the brain-case. The teeth are forty- 

 two in number, or two less than the full typical number, the missing ones being the 

 first premolar on each side of the lower jaw. The short-crowned cheek-teeth are 

 separated from those in the front of the jaws by a long gap, and the tusks, or 

 canines, are small, those of the upper jaw being inferior in dimensions to the 

 outermost pair of incisors. The upper cheek-teeth have two transverse ridges 

 and an outer longitudinal wall, while those of the lower jaw carry a pair of 

 transverse ridges alone. In the limbs all the bones are fully developed and quite 

 distinct from one another. It may be added that the toes are encased in long and 

 rather oval hoofs, while inferiorly the foot is furnished with a large callous pad, 

 which takes a share in supporting the weight of the body. Except when the soil 

 is soft and yielding, the small outermost toe of the fore-foot scarcely touches the 

 ground. 



The existing tapirs, all of which may be included in the one genus 

 Tapirus, have a most remarkable geographical distribution, a solitary 

 species being found in the Malayan region, while the whole of the other four are 

 restricted to Central and South America. Still more remarkable is the circumstance 

 that, instead of all the American species being closely allied, two of them are 

 nearly related to the Malayan tapir, while the other two form a totally distinct 

 group. A flood of light on this remarkable instance of what is known as dis- 

 continuous distribution is, however, thrown by palaeontology, remains of extinct 

 tapirs having been discovered in the middle and upper Tertiary rocks of Europe 

 (including those of England) and China, while nearly-allied or identical forms occur 

 in those of the United States. Such remains are also found in the cavern-deposits 

 of Brazil, which belong to the later Pleistocene epoch. Since these extinct forms 



