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Tapirs (/ ˈ t eɪ p ər / TAY-pər) [8] [9] are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. [3] They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America and Southeast Asia.
Pig form, large-headed, pig-snouted and hoofs are independent in true pigs in Eurasia, peccaries in South America and the extinct entelodonts. [35] Tapirs and pigs look much alike, but tapirs are perissodactyls (odd-toed ungulates) and pigs are artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates). [36]
Perissodactyls range in size from the 1.8 m (6 ft) long Baird's tapir to the 4 m (13 ft) long white rhinoceros. Over 50 million domesticated donkeys and 58 million horses are used in farming worldwide, while four species of perissodactyl have potentially fewer than 200 members remaining.
Though it was long thought that hippos were related to pigs or even tapirs, and their name means “river horse” in Ancient Greek, the truth is that hippos are actually more closely related to ...
Rhinos and tapirs are more closely related to each other than to horses. The separation of horses from other perissodactyls took place according to molecular genetic analysis in the Paleocene some 56 million years ago, while the rhinos and tapirs split off in the lower-middle Eocene, about 47 million years ago.
Tapiroidea is a superfamily of perissodactyls which includes the modern tapirs and their extinct relatives. Taxonomically, they are placed in suborder Ceratomorpha along with the rhino superfamily, Rhinocerotoidea.The first members of Tapiroidea appeared during the Early Eocene, 55 million years ago, and were present in North America and Asia during the Eocene.
According to genetic studies, elephants, rhinoceroses, tapirs and hippopotamuses are classified as separate clades altogether. Rhinos, hippos, pigs, peccaries, horses, zebras, donkeys and tapirs are classified in clade Laurasiatheria, while elephants, hyraxes, manatees and dugongs are classified in clade Afrotheria.
Image: Twitter Even though they may essentially just be giant, glorified guinea pig's, one thing's for sure: Capybaras are the Taylor Swift of the animal kingdom -- they roll deep.