Tapiroidea
| Tapiroids Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Clade: | Tapiromorpha |
| Suborder: | Ceratomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Tapiroidea Gill, 1872 |
| Families | |
|
Incertae sedis genera | |
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Tapiroidea is a superfamily of perissodactyls which includes the living tapirs and their extinct relatives. Tapiroids represent one of the oldest living lineages of large mammals.[1] Their closest living relatives are rhinoceroses; the ancestral lineages of tapirs and rhinoceroses split from each other approximately 51–47 million years ago.[1] Once a large group encompassing several families,[2] tapiroids are today represented only by the four living species of the genus Tapirus. All living species are listed as endangered or vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.[1]
Fossil record
[edit]The fossil record of tapiroids stretches back to the Early Eocene.[2][3] Out of the three extant perissodactyl lineages, tapirs have the poorest and least well understood fossil record.[2] Most tapiroids appear to have been relatively conservative, unlike the diversity seen in equoids and rhinocerotoids.[2] Both ancient and modern tapirs appear to have inhabited closed-canopy warm forests.[2]
Tapiroids were numerous and widespread in the Eocene in both North America and Asia, and is represented by several taxa in the Oligocene of both North America and Europe.[1] Tapiroid diversity sharply declined after the Oligocene.[1] Tapiridae first appeared during the early Oligocene in Europe, and may have originated from the tapiroid family Helaletidae.[3][4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Medeiros Pinho, Gabriela; Qi, Luan Lim; Annavi, Geetha; Gonçalves da Silva, Anders; Saranholi, Bruno H. (2024). "Evolution, Biogeography, and Genetics of Living Tapirs". In Melletti, Mario; Reyna-Hurtado, Rafael; Medici, Patrícia (eds.). Tapirs of the World. Springer Nature. pp. 3–24. ISBN 978-3-031-65310-0.
- 1 2 3 4 5 MacLaren, Jamie A.; Holbrook, Luke T. (2024). "The Fossil Record of Tapirs". In Melletti, Mario; Reyna-Hurtado, Rafael; Medici, Patrícia (eds.). Tapirs of the World. Springer Nature. pp. 25–59. ISBN 978-3-031-65310-0.
- 1 2 Bai, Bin; Meng, Jin; Mao, Fang-Yuan; Zhang, Zhao-Qun; Wang, Yuan-Qing (2019-11-08). Smith, Thierry (ed.). "A new early Eocene deperetellid tapiroid illuminates the origin of Deperetellidae and the pattern of premolar molarization in Perissodactyla". PLOS ONE. 14 (11) e0225045. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1425045B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225045. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6839866. PMID 31703104.
- ↑ Scherler, Laureline; Becker, Damien; Berger, Jean-Pierre (2011). "Tapiridae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) of the Swiss Molasse Basin during the Oligocene–Miocene transition". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (2): 479–496. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31..479S. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550360. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 73527662.
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