TAPIRS. 
457 
The Tapirs. 
Family TapiriDjE. 
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 rather 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 
rathet 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 palgeontology, 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 
