Jump to content

Mountain tapir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mountain tapir
CITESAppendix I(CITES)[2]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Tapiridae
Genus: Tapirus
Species:
T. pinchaque
Binomial name
Tapirus pinchaque
(Roulin,1829)[3]
Mountain tapir range

Themountain tapir,also known as theAndean tapirorwoolly tapir(Tapirus pinchaque), is the smallest of the four widely recognizedspeciesoftapir.It is found only in certain portions of theAndean Mountain Rangein northwesternSouth America.As such, it is the only tapir species to live outside oftropical rainforestsin the wild.[4]It is most easily distinguished from other tapirs by its thick woolly coat and white lips.

The species name comes from the term"La Pinchaque",an imaginary beast said to inhabit the same regions as the mountain tapir.[5]

Description[edit]

Mountain tapirs are black or very dark brown, with occasional pale hairs flecked in amongst the darker fur. The fur becomes noticeably paler on the underside, around the anal region, and on the cheeks. A distinct white band runs around the lips, although it may vary in extent, and there are usually also white bands along the upper surface of the ears. In adults, the rump has paired patches of bare skin, which may help to indicate sexual maturity. The eyes are initially blue, but change to a pale brown as the animal ages.[6]Unlike all other species of tapir, the fur is long and woolly, especially on the underside and flanks, reaching 3.5 cm (1.4 in) or more in some individuals.[7]

Adults are usually around 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) in length and 0.75 to 1 m (2 ft 6 in to 3 ft 3 in) in height at the shoulder. They typically weigh between 136 and 250 kg (300 and 551 lb), and while the sexes are of similar size, females tend to be around 25 to 100 kg (55 to 220 lb) heavier than the males.[6][8][9][10]

Like the other types of tapir, they have small, stubby tails and long, flexibleproboscises.They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot, each with large nails and supported by a padded sole. A patch of bare skin, pale pink or grey in colour, extends just above each toe.[6]

Mountain tapir skull on display at theMuseum of Osteology

Reproduction[edit]

Female mountain tapirs have a 30-dayestrouscycle, and typically breed only once every other year. During courtship, the male chases the female and uses soft bites, grunts, and squeals to get her attention, while the female responds with frequent squealing. After a gestation period of 392 or 393 days, the female gives birth to a single young; multiple births are very rare.[11]

Newborn mountain tapirs weigh about 5.4 to 6.2 kg (12 to 14 lb) and have a brown coat with yellowish-white spots and stripes. Like adults, baby mountain tapirs have thick, woolly fur to help keep them warm.Weaningbegins at around three months of age. The immature coloration fades after about a year, but the mother continues to care for her young for around 18 months. Mountain tapirs reachsexual maturityat age three and have lived up to 27 years in captivity.[6]

Ecology[edit]

Mountain tapir feeding

Tapirs areherbivores,and eat a wide range of plants, including leaves, grasses, andbromeliads.In the wild, particularly common foods includelupins,Gynoxys,ferns,andumbrella plants.It also seeks out naturalsalt licksto satisfy its need for essentialminerals.[6]

Mountain tapirs are also importantseed disperserswithin their environments, and have been identified as akeystone speciesof the high Andes. A relatively high proportion of plant seeds eaten by mountain tapirs successfully germinate in theirdung,probably due to a relatively inefficient digestive system and a tendency to defecate near water. Although a wide range of seeds are dispersed in this manner, those of the endangeredwax palmseem to rely almost exclusively on mountain tapirs for dispersal, and this plant, along with thehighland lupine,declines dramatically whenever the animal is extirpated from an area.[12]

Predatorsof mountain tapirs includecougars,spectacled bears,and, less commonly,jaguars.[6]Attacks by invasivedomestic dogshave also been reported.[13]

Behavior[edit]

When around other members of their species, mountain tapirs communicate through high-pitched whistles, and the males occasionally fight overestrousfemales by trying to bite each other's rear legs. But for the most part, mountain tapirs are shy and lead solitary lives, spending their waking hours foraging for food on their own along well-worn tapir paths.[14]Despite their bulk, they travel easily through dense foliage, up the steep slopes of their hillyhabitats,and in water, where they often wallow and swim.

Mountain tapirs are generallycrepuscular,although they are more active during the day than other species of tapirs. They sleep from roughly midnight to dawn, with an additional resting period during the hottest time of the day for a few hours after noon, and prefer to bed down in areas with heavy vegetation cover.[6]Mountain tapirs forage for tender plants to eat. When trying to access high plants, they will sometimes rear up on their hind legs to reach and then grab with theirprehensilesnouts. Though their eyesight is lacking, they get by on their keen senses of smell and taste, as well as the sensitive bristles on their proboscises.[15]

Males will frequently mark theirterritorywith dung piles, urine, andrubbings on trees,and females will sometimes engage in these behaviors, as well. The territories of individuals usually overlap, with each animal claiming over 800 hectares (3.1 sq mi), and females tend to have larger territories than males.[12]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

The mountain tapir is found in thecloud forestsandpáramoof theEasternandCentral Cordillerasmountains inColombia,Ecuador,and the far north ofPeru.Its range may once have extended as far as westernVenezuela,but it has long beenextirpatedfrom that region. It commonly lives atelevationsbetween 2,000 and 4,300 metres (6,600 and 14,100 ft), and since at this altitude temperatures routinely fall below freezing, the animal's woolly coat is essential. During thewet season,mountain tapirs tend to inhabit the forests of the Andes, while during the drier months, they move to thepáramo,where fewer bitinginsectspester them.[12]

The mountain tapir has no recognised subspecies.

In Peru, it is protected in the National Sanctuary Tabaconas Namballe. The species needs continuous stretches of cloud forest andpáramo,rather than isolated patches, to successfully breed and maintain a healthy population, and this obstacle is a major concern forconservationiststrying to protect theendangeredanimal.

Evolution[edit]

The mountain tapir is the least specialised of the living species of tapir, and has changed the least since the origin of the genus in the earlyMiocene.Genetic studies have shown that mountain tapirs diverged from its closest relative, theBrazilian tapir,in the latePliocene,around three million years ago. This would have been shortly after the formation of thePanamanian Isthmus,allowing the ancestors of the two living species to migrate southward from their respective points of origin in Central America as part of theGreat American Interchange.However, the modern species most likely originated in the Andes, some time after this early migration.[6]

Vulnerability[edit]

Two mountain tapirs in San Francisco Zoo

The mountain tapir is the most threatened of the fiveTapirusspecies, classified as "Endangered" by theIUCNin 1996. According to the IUCN, there was a 20% chance the species could have beenextinctas early as 2014. Due to the fragmentation of its surviving range, populations may already have fallen below the level required to sustain genetic diversity.[12]

Historically, mountain tapirs have been hunted for their meat and hides, while the toes, proboscises, and intestines are used in localfolk medicinesand asaphrodisiacs.Since they will eat crops when available, they are also sometimes killed by farmers protecting their produce. Today,deforestationforagricultureand mining, andpoachingare the main threats to the species.[6]

There may be only 2,500 individuals left in the wild today, making it all the more difficult for scientists to study them. Also, very few individuals are found in zoos. Only a handful of breeding pairs of this species exists in captivity in the world — at theLos Angeles Zoo,theCheyenne Mountain ZooinColorado Springs,and, as of 2006, theSan Francisco Zoo.[16][17][18]In Canada, a mating pair is kept in Langley, BC, at theMountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre.The nine individuals in captivity are descendants of just two founder animals.[citation needed]This represents a distinct lack ofgenetic diversityand may not bode well for their continued existence in captivity. The three zoos that house this species are working to ensure that the remaining wild populations of mountain tapirs are protected. Two mountain tapirs were sent from San Francisco Zoo toCali Zoo,making them be the only captive tapirs in their natural home range;[citation needed]one male is kept inPitalito,it could be moved to the Cali Zoo to make a breeding pair.[citation needed]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Lizcano, D.J.; Amanzo, J.; Castellanos, A.; Tapia, A.; Lopez-Malaga, C.M. (2016)."Tapirus pinchaque".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2016:e.T21473A45173922.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T21473A45173922.en.Retrieved19 November2021.
  2. ^"Appendices | CITES".cites.org.Retrieved2022-01-14.
  3. ^Roulin, F. (1829)."Mémoire pour servir a l'histoire du Tapir; et Description d'une espèce nouvelle appartenant aux hautes régions de la Cordilière des Andes".Annales des sciences naturelles.18:26–56.
  4. ^Grubb, P.(2005)."Order Perissodactyla".InWilson, D.E.;Reeder, D.M (eds.).Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference(3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 633–634.ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0.OCLC62265494.
  5. ^Downer, Craig C."Status and Action Plan of the Mountain Tapir(Tapirus pinchaque)."Tapirs: Status Survey and Conservation Action Planpublished by the IUCN/SSC Tapir Specialist Group, 1997.
  6. ^abcdefghiPadilla, Miguel; et al. (2010)."Tapirus pinchaque (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae)"(PDF).Mammalian Species.42(1): 166–182.doi:10.1644/863.1.S2CID33277260.
  7. ^Jorgensen, J.P. (1988). "Order Perissodactyla/family Tapiridae:Tapirus pinchaque.Sheet A-118.002.001.003 ". In Dollinger, P. (ed.).Identification manual. Vol. 1a: Mammalia. Carnivora to Artiodactyla.Lausanne: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
  8. ^Tapirus pinchaque,Animal Diversity Web
  9. ^Mountain TapirArchived2016-04-22 at theWayback Machine,Arkive
  10. ^"Mountain tapir".
  11. ^Bonney, S. & Crotty, M.J. (1979). "Breeding the mountain tapir, Tapirus pinchaque, at the Los Angeles Zoo".International Zoo Yearbook.19(1): 198–200.doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1979.tb00563.x.
  12. ^abcdDowner, Craig C. (1996)."The mountain tapir, endangered" flagship "species of the high Andes".Oryx.30(1): 45–58.doi:10.1017/S0030605300021384.
  13. ^Cepeda-Duque, Juan Camilo; Arango-Correa, Eduven; Frimodt-Møller, Christian; Lizcano, Diego J. (8 April 2024)."Howling shadows: First report of domestic dog attacks on globally threatened mountain tapirs in high Andean cloud forests of Colombia".Neotropical Biology and Conservation.19(1): 25–33.doi:10.3897/neotropical.19.e117437.
  14. ^Goudot, Justin. "Nouvelles observations sur le Tapir Pinchaque (Recent Observations on the Tapir Pinchaque),"Comptes Rendus,Paris 1843, vol. xvi, pages 331-334. Availableonlinewith English translation by Tracy Metz.
  15. ^Downer, Craig C. (1997)."Status and action plan of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque)".In Brooks, D.M.; et al. (eds.).Tapirs—status survey and conservation action plan.Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. pp. 10–22.
  16. ^Eye on Conservation: Tale of the TapirArchived2007-01-13 at theWayback Machinefrom the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens website
  17. ^Mountain Tapir Conservation at the Cheyenne Mountain ZooArchived2006-06-15 at theWayback Machine
  18. ^Podcast from the San Francisco ZooArchived2007-07-12 at theWayback Machine

Video/Multimedia[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toTapirus pinchaque.
Wikispecieshas information related toTapirus pinchaque.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_tapir&oldid=1222978989"