Tapirus veroensis
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| Tapirus veroensis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Skeletal mount, American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Tapiridae |
| Genus: | Tapirus |
| Species: | †T. veroensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918 | |
Tapirus veroensis is an extinct tapir species that lived in the area of the modern Eastern and Southern United States during the Pleistocene epoch (Irvingtonian-Rancholabrean). Tapirus veronensis is thought to have gone extinct around 11,000 years ago as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event.[1]
Taxonomy
The first complete skull with full dentition of T. veroensis fossil was found at Vero Beach, Florida, in 1915 and named in 1918 by the Florida State Geologist E. H. Sellards. Fragmentary specimens had been described by Leidy as early as 1852.[1]
The taxonomy of Pleistocene North American tapirs has long been the subject of confusion, with many named species now recognised as synonyms of T. veroensis. Tapirus veroensis is the type species of the subgenus Helicotapirus, which includes several other species of extinct tapir from North America like T. lundeliusi and T. haysii. These tapirs are thought to be more closely related to living South American tapirs than to the Malayan tapir.[2] T. veroensis was coeval with T. merriami and T. californicus, native to Western North America, but their poor preservation makes their relationships to other tapirs uncertain.[2]
