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.
Tapirus polkensis Temporal range:
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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
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Binomial name | |
†Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1960
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The Gray Fossil Site in northeast Tennessee is home to the world's largest known fossil assemblage of T. polkensis.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Pygmy_tapir_JF.png/220px-Pygmy_tapir_JF.png)
References
edit- ^ 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.