A new species of tapir from the Amazon

Abstract

All known species of extant tapirs are allopatric: 1 in southeastern Asia and 3 in Central and South America. The fossil record for tapirs, however, is much wider in geographical range, including Europe, Asia, and North and South America, going back to the late Oligocene, making the present distribution a relict of the original one. We here describe a new species of living Tapirus from the Amazon rain forest, the 1st since T. bairdii Gill, 1865, and the 1st new Perissodactyla in more than 100 years, from both morphological and molecular characters. It is shorter in stature than T. terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) and has distinctive skull morphology, and it is basal to the clade formed by T. terrestris and T. pinchaque (Roulin, 1829). This highlights the unrecognized biodiversity in western Amazonia, where the biota faces increasing threats. Local peoples have long recognized our new species, suggesting a key role for traditional knowledge in understanding the biodiversity of the region.

Mammalian Diversity and Matses Ethnomammalogy in Amazonian Peru Part 2: Xenarthra, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Artiodactyla, and Sirenia

“…Identification: Tapir specimens collected in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluvial region conform to the typical morphology of Tapirus terrestris described by Hershkovitz (1954) and Husson (1978), and they do not include any examples of the unusual cranial phenotype described by Hagmann (1908) and Cozzuol et al (2013). Measurements of our material (table 16) are all within a few millimeters of homologous values obtained from Surinamese specimens (Husson, 1978: table 55), suggesting little geographic variation in cranial dimensions across vast Amazonian landscapes despite modest mtDNA heterogeneity in this species (Thoisy et al, 2010;Ruiz-García et al, 2016).…”

“…Although a second nominal species of Amazonian tapir, T. "kabomani, " was recently described by Cozzuol et al (2013), analyses of mtDNA sequence data suggest that it is not genetically distinct from the widespread Brazilian species (Voss et al, 2014;Ruiz-García et al, 2016).…”

Inventory of medium-sized and large mammals in the wetlands of Laguna de Terminos and Pantanos de Centla, Mexico

“…However, a recent revision called this species Tapirus bairdii (Cozzuol et al 2013). In following Ramirez-Pulido et al (2014), we use Tapirella.…”

Microestruturas ósseas e a fossilização em vertebrados pleistocênicos da Formação Rio Madeira, Sudoeste Amazônico, Brasil

“…No Estado de Rondônia ocorre uma significativa diversidade de paleovertebrados pleistocênicos em depósitos fluviais da Formação Rio Madeira, principalmente na localidade de Araras (Cozzuol, 1999;Nascimento et al, 2003Nascimento et al, , 2005Nascimento et al, , 2010aNascimento et al, , 2010bGóis et al, 2004Góis et al, , 2012Porto et al, 2004aPorto et al, , 2004bCozzuol et al, 2005Cozzuol et al, , 2006Cozzuol et al, , 2013Fortier et al, 2007;Hsiou et al, 2007;Nascimento, 2008;Andrade et al, 2010;Holanda et al, 2011). Eles foram encontrados durante o auge da extração aurífera na região, nas décadas de 1970 a 1990.…”