Tapirus polkensis
| Tapirus polkensis Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Fossil replicas on display at the Gray Fossil Site & Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Tapiridae |
| Genus: | Tapirus |
| Species: | †T. polkensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1960
| |
Tapirus polkensis, the pygmy tapir, is a small prehistoric tapir that lived in North America during the late Miocene and early Pliocene.[1] T. polkensis had an estimated mass of around 125 kg (276 lb),[1] making it smaller than any extant tapir.
The Gray Fossil Site in northeast Tennessee is home to the world's largest known fossil assemblage of T. polkensis.
Palaeoecology
Analysis of its tooth enamel δ13C values reveals T. polkensis to have been a forest-dwelling browser.[2]
References
- ^ a b Richard C. Hulbert Jr.; Steven C. Wallace; Walter E. Klippel & Paul W. Parmalee (2009). "Cranial morphology and systematics of an extraordinary sample of the Late Neogene dwarf tapir, Tapirus polkensis (Olsen)". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (2): 238–262. doi:10.1666/08-062.1.
- ^ DeSantis, Larisa R.G.; Wallace, Steven C. (27 August 2008). "Neogene forests from the Appalachians of Tennessee, USA: Geochemical evidence from fossil mammal teeth". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 266 (1–2): 59–68. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.03.032. Retrieved 11 January 2025 – via Elsevier Science Direct.