Tiago, Tell Us About Tapirs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Something which looks like a large pig, with rounded ears and a short trunk

Although belonging to the order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), tapirs only possess an odd number of toes (3) on their hind feet, but an even number (4) on their front feet.

The tapir is often likened in appearance to a pig, but is in fact more closely related to a horse.

It is believed that the extant species of tapirs that exist in South America came from North America following the joining of the two continents. None remain in North America, but three species remain in Central/South America and one in Asia. There is some debate concerning a fifth species, known as the black dwarf lowland tapir, but most accept that this is not a separate species, leaving the tapir species count at four - the Brazilian, Baird's, Malayan, and mountain.

Answer: Asia

Forested areas of Southeast Asia are also home to a species of tapir - the Malayan tapir. This animal can be found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. (Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_Tapir).

The Malayan tapir is the largest of the four species, and is perhaps the most recognisable, having a distinctive white saddle marking on its black coat.

Answer: Yes

Most will think of tapirs as slow and lumbering land animals, but they are very much at home in the water, and will often enter deep rivers to cool themselves down or avoid being bitten by insects. They can also dive to the bottom, allowing them to feed on aquatic plants. Water also offers a refuge from predators such as large cats, whether it is from tigers and leopards in Southeast Asia, or jaguars in the forests of Central and South America. Tapirs have been known to run instinctively to deep water if they are pounced on by a large cat, thus forcing the predator to release them and return to the surface for air.

Answer: To detect chemicals in the air

The flehmen response is a habit of many ungulates (as well as felines) which involves the curling of the animal's top lip, allowing chemicals in the air to be detected more clearly by the Jacobson's organ.

Though often leading some to think that it is related to an elephant, the trunk of a tapir evolved independently, allowing the large mammal to pluck fruit and leaves off of plants more easily.

When observing fossils, it has sometimes proven difficult to determine whether the subject was gentically more similar to a tapir or a rhinoceros. However, the presence of a trunk in extinct species can be determined by observing the bone structure of their skulls. As shown in the skulls of extant tapirs, the amount of nasal bone is significantly reduced, so as to accommodate the fleshy trunk.

Answer: Females of his species feed their young with milk which oozes from their skin, rather than from a teat

The characteristic of producing milk from glands in the skin rather than from a teat is exclusive to monotremes - platypuses and echidnas.

Whilst the molars of the tapir are used during feeding, the sharp canines and incisors can be used in fights between males.

Populations of Baird's tapirs can be found in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia. There is also thought to be some individuals living in Ecuador, but this is unconfirmed. (Info sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baird%27s_tapir#Habitat).

The tapirs are the largest wild mammals found in South America, and of the three species which exist in America - mountain, Brazilian and Baird's - Baird's tapir is the largest. They are not as stocky as the Brazilian species, and are significantly larger than the mountain species. Though mostly covered in dark, bristly fur, Baird's tapir has a cream-coloured throat and upper chest.

Answer: Their coat - tapir calves have spots and stripes

The gestation period of a tapir is fairly long - around 13 months - and when the calf is born, it is born with extremely eccentric patterns of cream-coloured spots and stripes on a dark brown/black coat. Though this pattern may appear to make the calf more conspicuous, it actually breaks up the calf's form in the densely forested area in which it lives, allowing it to avoid predators on the whole. These patterns will begin to fade at the age of 8/9 months and will eventually disappear, leaving a dull, uniform coat.

A female tapir will rarely give birth to multiple calves, and those which survive will stay with their mothers until they reach the age of two.

Answer: The woolly tapir

It is not just the mountain tapir which is known by an alternate name - the Brazilian tapir can be called the South American (or lowland) tapir, and the Malayan also goes by the name of the Asian tapir.

The mountain tapir gains its alternative name from its dark, thick coat, which acts to keep it warm in the cold Andean habitat in which it lives. These animals are very similar in some respects to the other two American species (Baird's and Brazilian), but can be distinguished by their size (they are smaller) and their fur, which is longer and denser.

Answer: It significantly aids the dispersal of seeds in the rainforest

As mentioned previously, the tapir has a particularly mobile trunk, which allows it to grasp leaves and fruit. The diet of the tapir tends to be quite varied and some have even been reported to eat stranded fish. According to the BBC, their favourite food is bananas (from https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5864772).

The varied diet of the tapir may have been developed in response to the defences of the rainforest plants. Eating only a small amount of each plant means that no particular plant toxin can build up in the tapir's body to a dangerous level. Tapirs have also been known to eat a clay-like substance, which reduces the effects of some poisons which they consume whilst grazing.

Answer: Salt-licks

Whilst some tapirs have been observed using dung heaps, they do not congregate at these sites. Moreover, many tapirs actually choose to defecate in water, so as to cover their scent. When tapirs wish to communicate with one another, this is done with high-pitched whistles.

Tapirs appear to be creatures of habit, following well-trodden paths to grazing sites, water, and salt-licks. Tapirs are most likely to be seen making these journeys back and forth at dawn and dusk.

Answer: Killing to attain the tapir's trunk, which is believed to be an aphrodisiac

The mountain, Malayan, and Baird's tapirs are all classed as endangered, whilst the Brazilian is classed as vulnerable.

Tapirs have been described as "living fossils", having changed very little for millions of years. They are a midway point between some of the most primitive mammals and what are described as "advanced ungulates." These advanced ungulates came about as the world became drier and cooler, and so were more suited to the grassy plains which were in abundance. Tapirs were not able to compete with the more efficient digestive systems of these new mammals and so remained in the ever-shrinking rainforest.

Though tapirs are surprisingly fast runners, and are able to deter predators by diving into deep water, they are not the sharpest tools in the box, running right into the traps of poachers who imitate their high-pitched whistles.

As mentioned, tapir fur is often traded illegally. Whilst the fur of a tapir may be put to more practical uses by local tribesmen, those acquired on the illegal fur market are usually just a trophy. Also, several parts of the tapir - fur, hooves and flesh - are used in folk medicine, apparently able to treat epilepsy and heart disease.