Tapirus lundeliusi

Tapirus lundeliusi is an extinct species of tapir that lived in Florida in the early Pleistocene.[1] It was similar in size and shape to the still-living mountain tapir (T. pinchaque), with an estimated weight of 203 kg [2]

Tapirus lundeliusi
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Species:
†T. lundeliusi
Binomial name
†Tapirus lundeliusi
Hulbert, 2010

Taxonomy

There are multiple pieces of evidence which indicate most, if not all, of the 5 accepted Pleistocene tapir species found in the modern-day United States (T. californicus, T. haysii (T. copei), T. lundeliusi, T. merriami, T. veroensis) may actually belong to the same species. T. californicus was considered to be a subspecies of T. haysii by Merriam,[3] T. californicus and T. veroensis are nearly impossible to distinguish morphologically and occupy the same time frame,[4] being separated only by location, and T. haysii, T. veroensis, and T. lundeliusi are already considered so closely related that they occupy the same subgenus (Helicotapirus).[1] Additionally, few details distinguish T. haysii and T. veroensis except size, date, and wear of teeth;[5] and the intermediate sizes overlap greatly with many specimens originally assigned to one species, then later switched over to another.[5]

References
  1. Hulbert, Richard Jr. (September 30, 2010). "A new early Pleistocene tapir (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) from Florida, with a review of Blancan tapirs from the state" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 49 (3): 67–126.
  2. https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/184/2/499/4994732
  3. "Tapirus haysii californicus". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. Jefferson, George T. (August 14, 1989). "Late Cenozoic Tapirs (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) of Western North America" (PDF). Contributions in Science. 406 (406): 1–21. doi:10.5962/p.226813. S2CID 134544002.
  5. "Tapirus haysii". Florida Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 March 2017.


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