April 27 – World Tapir Day

nPostednon April 27, 2014

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Thenofficial website for World Tapir Day says, “Regardlessnof whether you are a hardcore tapir fan or whether you have only justndiscovered the world of tapirs, you will find a wide range ofninformation on this site about World Tapir Day.”

nMan! I love writing about holidays and birthdays and such – Inam always learning something new! Today I learned here arenhardcore tapir fans in the world!!???

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nTapirsnare mammals, of course, and herbivores (plant eaters). Of all thenother mammals alive today, they’re most closely related to rhinos.

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nTapirsnlive in rainforests (and sometimes drier sorts of forests) – but inntwo very far-flung areas of the globe: Central and South America, andnSoutheast Asia. Why are the different species so isolated from onenanother? It turns out that tapirs used to live in North America, too,nand much of the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and Asia), but they diednout in those regions. The populations who had crossed from NorthnAmerica to South America over the Panamanian land bridge (about twonmillion years ago) have flourished more than their northern cousins. n

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nRightnnow there are five species of tapirs, four of which live in Centralnand South America. n

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ThenMalayan tapir has such unusual coloration!

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nThensmallest of the extant (still alive) tapir species is the kabomanintapir. It is interesting to read about this species even thoughnlittle is known about it. Found in the Amazon rainforest, apparentlynliving in the same region as the Brazilian tapir, the kabomani tapirnwas introduced to the world in 2013, the first odd-toed ungulaten(hooved mammal) to be discovered in a century!
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n(Asnyou may have guessed, the people who live in the Brazilian rainforestnhad long ago “discovered” the kabomani tapir! For one thing,nthey’ve been eating it!)

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Thenmountain tapir lives in the high “cloud forests” of the AndesnMountains. This is one of the most endangered tapir species, but theynare all under threat because their habitat, the rainforests, is beingndestroyed or “developed.”

nThenBaird’s tapir is the largest land mammal in Central and SouthnAmerica. It is about six and a half feet long (2 m) and almost fournfeet high (1.2 m). It weighs from 330 to 880 pounds (150-400 kg). n

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Ooooh! Aren’t baby tapirs cute?

nGosh, no wonder there are hardcore tapir fans!

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nInread that the “proboscis” (or snout, or short trunk) only evolvednin the past few million years…but that doesn’t seem quite right tonme since all it is a characteristic of all five species! At any rate,nthis trunk is very strong yet very flexible—it can move in allndirections—and it allows the tapir to grab foliage that is out ofnrange of its mouth.

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nFindnout more about tapirs here or here. n

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nAlsonon this date:

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