Lowland tapir

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Lowland tapir
Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris)

Lowland tapir ( Tapirus terrestris )

Systematics
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Unpaired ungulate (Perissodactyla)
Family : Tapirs (Tapiridae)
Genre : Tapirs ( tapirus )
Type : Lowland tapir
Scientific name
Tapirus terrestris
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The lowland tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ) is a species of mammal belonging to the genus Tapirs ( Tapirus ), which is the only genus in the family of the same name. The lowland tapir is the largest representative of the three South American tapir species. It lives in lower regions of the continent and mainly lives in forests , but also in more open landscapes, where it appears predominantly solitary and mainly feeds on soft vegetable food. The lowland tapir is still one of the more common representatives of its genus, but its populations are considered endangered due to heavy hunting and landscape destruction.

description

Habitus

Lowland Tapir in the Pantanal

The lowland tapir is the larger of the three South American tapir representatives and reaches a head-trunk length of 205 (males) up to 220 cm (females), with the tail only a stub of 8 centimeters in length. It reaches a shoulder height of 77 to 108 cm. The weight varies between 150 and 250 kg, females are usually 25 to 100 kg heavier than the males. The skin is very thick, especially on the neck, and covered with a black-brown colored fur on the back , which takes on a rather dark brown tint on the chest, stomach and legs. There is also a distinct mane on the neck. The white edges on the ears are also typical. The face almost looks as if it was drawn afterwards, the coat colors reinforce the characteristic head of this animal. The fur on the throat and cheeks is sometimes, but not always, white. Occasionally, completely albinotic animals appear.

The physique resembles that of the rest of the tapirs, characteristic is above all the strongly arched head and the very flexible trunk-like nose, which is connected to the upper lip. The physique looks stocky, but is very muscular. The legs are stocky and short. The front legs of the flatland tapir, as with all tapirs, end in four toes, the hind legs in only three. The toes are covered with hooves and spread apart when walking, preventing them from sinking into soft ground. The eyes are relatively small and on the sides of the head.

Skull and dentition features

The skull of the lowland tapir becomes around 37 cm long and is elongated and rather flat. Characteristic is the high crest , which is so pronounced only in the lowland tapir and which causes the convex head. In contrast to other mammals with this type of bone formation, this is not paired in the early individual development, but evidently arises postnatally through bone enrichment and thus differs from the crests of the other today's tapir species. The occiput is clearly short and rectangular in shape. The nasal bone is rather weakly built and, like all tapirs, lies far behind the intermaxillary bone, the two bones are not connected to each other.

The lower jaw has a length of 29 cm, the body of the lower jaw being relatively low. The number of teeth is reduced somewhat and has the following dentition formula in adult animals: . In the upper jaw, the third incisors in each case are enlarged and shaped like a dagger, while the rest are rather small, as are all the incisors in the lower jaw. There is a small diastema to the following canine . The canine of the lower jaw is very large and conically pointed. It faces the third incisor of the upper jaw, which means that both teeth form a powerful bite tool. The maxillary canine, on the other hand, is markedly reduced, and generally the canines have little cement . There is a significantly larger diastema to the posterior teeth. The premolars are clearly molarized, that is, they resemble the back molars, the molars . These are characterized by two transverse enamel strips ( bilophodont ), each with bumpy formations at the ends. In general, the molars are very low-crowned ( brachyodont ).

Sensory performances and vocalizations

The best developed senses of the lowland tapir are the fine sense of smell as well as the excellent sense of touch. Its ears work almost as well with their good hearing , whereby the lowland tapir can differentiate between a wide variety of noises (predators, conspecifics) and react accordingly. The eyes, on the other hand, are weak, the animal is rather nearsighted. However, studies have shown that the sense of sight is also an important optical communication aid for the animals at close range, as they react to certain key stimuli such as the trunk or the white edges of their ears.

The lowland tapir uses various sounds to communicate. Two shrill noises are known that the animals utter in case of danger or pain. A click made with the tongue and the palate is used to recognize conspecifics, while a snort expresses aggression or anger.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area; orange: present occurrence, yellow: possible occurrence, red: extinct

The lowland tapir is native to large parts of South America east of the Andes , it mainly lives in the Amazon basin , in the Llanos and in the Pantanal . Its distribution area extends from Colombia and Venezuela to southern Brazil , Paraguay and northern Argentina . The typical habitat of the lowland tapir is characterized by a tropical climate with a high rate of precipitation and high humidity. The tapir species can be found predominantly in forests, primarily tropical rainforests , where it is always near rivers, lakes or swamps. In some cases it also settles in more open landscapes, which, however, must be interspersed with thickets. In recent times the lowland tapir has penetrated plantation areas more often due to landscape destruction , which it either uses for foraging or as a corridor between different forest areas.

The total number of individuals in the natural habitat is relatively low, as studies in the Pantanal have shown. On average, there is only one lowland tapir per square kilometer in forest areas; in open landscapes the density is even lower and is one animal per two square kilometers. Nevertheless, the tapir representative is an important ecological component, as it is one of the largest herbivores of the Neotropics . Normally the distribution areas of the individual American tapir species do not overlap, but the lowland tapir in northwest Colombia lives partly sympathetically with the Central American tapir ( Tapirus bairdii ).

Way of life

Territorial behavior

Pleading lowland tapir

The lowland tapir, like all tapir species, is nocturnal. During the day it retreats into the dense undergrowth to look for food at night. An animal migrates to a wide variety of places, such as feeding places, salt licks or bathing areas in its area and thus creates paths. In the normal running pace he moves forward with his head lowered, while in a sprint or on the run he moves with his head raised. The lowland tapir is also a good swimmer and can dive.

As a territorial loner, the lowland tapir lives solitary, small groups, except in the mating season , usually include mother animals with calves. Encounters among conspecifics can sometimes be very aggressive. Male animals in particular mark their territories and paths with urine and dung , which are often placed in the same places. Fecal sniffing serves as one of the most important intra-species communications . If the animals find foreign legacies, they begin to flee .

nutrition

The flatland tapir is an animal that specializes in mainly soft plant parts, which is also reflected in its anatomy by the highly mobile trunk-like upper lip and the low-crowned molars with the characteristic enamel humps. In addition to leaves, the animals also consume aquatic plants , buds , twigs and fruits . More than 270 different types of plants are known that the lowland tapir consumes. These include dog poison , palm and sapote plants . Fruits such as figs or sumac plants make up a very high proportion of the food spectrum, but they are consumed depending on the growing season and therefore cannot be consumed all year round. Since the seeds remain largely intact during digestion , the lowland tapir contributes to the spread of numerous plant species through its migrations. Salt licks or open ground where the lowland tapir ingests minerals are also of great importance , on the one hand to balance its material cycle and on the other hand to render plant toxins harmless.

Reproduction

Young animal in the Dortmund zoo

The lowland tapir is sexually mature at around two to two and a half years. The rutting of the female takes place every 50 to 80 days and lasts for up to two days. During this time, the males court the female by following her, by plucking her ears or playing. The copulation is preceded by characteristic circular movements, flehing or high whimpering. The sex act itself can take place in or outside a body of water.

After a gestation period of around 335 to 439 days , the female usually gives birth to a single young, twins are very rare. A newborn flatland tapir weighs around 4 to 7 kilograms and, like all tapir calves, is provided with light spots or stripes that serve as camouflage. In the first days of life it stays in a sheltered camp, after about a week it accompanies the mother on her forays. Just a few days after birth , the calf is already consuming plant food, but continues to suckle milk and is weaned after around six to ten months. In the first fourteen days, the weight of the newborn can triple. The young animal loses its camouflage clothing after five to eight months. In total, it stays with the mother for around 18 months until it is fully grown and sexually mature. Life expectancy is 25 to 30 years, the maximum age of an animal in a European zoo was 38 years. The female named Daisy came to the Nuremberg Zoo in 1982 and died there in 2020, during which time she raised a total of ten cubs.

Interactions with other animal species

The lowland tapir has a positive ecological relationship with numerous other animal species, as it creates paths on its migrations, which they then also use. As a shy and cautious animal, the lowland tapir tends to flee into thickets and forests or even into water, but in case of danger it can defend itself effectively with its sharp canine and incisor teeth and hooves. In addition to the jaguar , its natural enemies also include the puma and various crocodiles . Attacks by the lowland tapir on humans are rare.

Parasites

Numerous parasites attack the lowland tapir. The external ones include mites and ticks , especially the sarcoptes tapiri mite can cause sarcoptic mange . Internal parasites are mainly ciliates and roundworms that live in the appendix and colon . So far, schistosomiasis pathogens have rarely been found in lowland tapir.

Systematics

Internal system of the genus Tapirus (only recent representatives) according to Cozzuol et al. 2013
  Tapirus  


 Tapirus bairdii


   

 Tapirus kabomani


   

 Tapirus pinchaque


   

 Tapirus terrestris





   

 Tapirus indicus



Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style

The lowland tapir belongs to the genus Tapirus and to the family of tapirs ( Tapiridae ). Within the order of the odd-toed ungulates , they are most closely related to the rhinos and together with them they form the group of the Ceratomorpha , who face the Hippomorpha with the horses .

Among the five recent Tapirarten is the Flachlandtapir closest to the mountain tapir ( Tapirus pinchaque ) related, but provides both is significantly more developed form. Further out are the Kabomani Tapir ( tapirus kabomani ) and the Central American tapir and the Malayan tapir ( Tapirus indicus ). According to molecular genetic studies, the latter split off from the rest of the tapirus line more than 22 million years ago , while the mountain tapir differentiated around 20 million years ago. The three South American tapirs may not have separated until around two and a half million years ago, after their common ancestor immigrated from Panama to South America after the formation of the isthmus . The diversification of the South American species took place in the Middle Pleistocene 288,000 to 652,000 years ago. However, there is also the possibility that, from a genetic point of view, the Kabomani tapir is only a special variant of the lowland tapir.

A total of four subspecies of the lowland tapir are distinguished today:

Since the variability within the lowland tapir is very high, these can hardly be clearly defined by anatomical determinations.

On the basis of genetic analyzes, several haplotypes could be distinguished, which were divided into individual clades. Clade I and II include populations in the western Amazon region up to the foot of the Andes (western Brazil, Ecuador, southern Colombia). Clade III extends over the northern Amazonia to the Caribbean coast , while Clade IV is native to the southern Amazonia to Argentina and Bolivia. The individual clades probably differentiated themselves in the Pliocene or in the early and middle Pleistocene . Since all of these clades show clear genetic differences, it is assumed that the Amazon may have acted as a migration barrier and thus prevented a stronger gene flow .

Tribal history

Tapirus is a relatively old genus that was first detectable in Europe in the early Miocene , more than 20 million years ago , and is regarded as the successor to the primitive genus Protapirus . The oldest evidence of this genus in South America is between 1.5 and 2.5 million years old and comes from Argentina . At least seven extinct Pleistocene tapir species have been described for the South American lowlands . Recent studies show that these are within the morphological range of variation of today's flatland tapir and should therefore be assigned to it. However, the tapir species Tapirus rondoniensis , which was only described in 2011 and which was determined from a complete, 36 cm long skull from New Pleistocene deposits of the Rio-Madeira Formation in the central Amazon region, has less strongly molarized premolars than is the case with the lowland tapir. The lowland tapir may have developed in the western part of the Amazon basin at the transition to the tropical cloud forests of the Andes. As an independent species, however, it appears late, the earliest fossil record of the lowland tapir comes from the Mesopotamia region in Argentina and is between 80,000 and 130,000 years old. Significant Pleistocene finds of the lowland tapir come from the upper reaches of the Juruá in western Brazil. The preservation of numerous skeletal elements, including several lower jaws and long bones, from two underwater caves in the Serra da Bodoquena in the southwestern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul , which belong to the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene , is also excellent .

Lowland tapir and human

Lowland tapir in the Hamburg Zoo

One of the reasons the lowland tapir is threatened by hunting for its meat and skin. During a one-year study from 1993 to 1994 among the Waimiri Atroari ethnic group of the central Amazon lowlands, it was found that the indigenous group, then comprised of 800 people, hunted a total of 131 flatland tapirs within this period with a total weight of 19.5 t, which is around 45% of the total biomass hunted. Furthermore, the progressive destruction of the habitat by deforestation is a major problem. As a result of habitat destruction, the lowland tapir also appears as a cultural successor . At the edge of the forest it sometimes penetrates sugar cane or cocoa plantations. Not infrequently these advances end with the shooting of the animal. Due to its large distribution area, it is even more common than the two other American tapir species, the Central American and the mountain tapir . Nevertheless, the population is falling, which is why it is listed by the IUCN as endangered ( vulnerable ). Locally, the lowland tapir has already become extinct in its eastern, southern and northwestern peripheral areas. To further protect the animal species, a program was initiated in 2006 to specifically relocate individual animals in national parks, which is coordinated by a group of the IUCN's Tapir Specialist Group ( TSG Re-Introduction and Translocation Advisory Committee ).

Of all the tapirs, the lowland tapir is most often shown in zoos. It is reported that young tapirs get used to people and are well tamed so that even children can ride them. In some South American areas, the tapir species is also used as a domestic animal.

literature

  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Miguel Padilla and Robert C. Dowler: Tapirus terrestris. Mammalian Species 481, 1994, pp. 1-8
  2. ↑ Mariana Bueno Landis, Luciano Candisani, Leticia Prado Munhoes, João Carlos Zecchini Gebin, Frineia Rezende, Miguel Martins Flores de Jesus, Emília Patrícia Medici and Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz: First record of albino lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris Linnaeus 1758) in an important Brazilian Atlantic Forest hotspot. Mammalia, 2020, doi: 10.1515 / mammalia-2019-0084
  3. ^ Luke T. Holbrook: The unusual development of the sagittal crest in the Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Journal of Zoology 256, 2002, pp. 215-219
  4. ^ A b Luke T. Holbrook: Comparative osteology of early Tertiary tapiromorphs (Mammalia, Perissodactyla). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 132, 2001, pp. 1-54
  5. ↑ Susanne Zenzinger: Experimental investigations into acoustic communication in zoo-kept and lowland tapirs (Tapirus indicus and Tapirus terrestris). The Zoological Garden NF 79, 2010, pp. 254-267
  6. ↑ Susanne Zenzinger: Experimental investigations into optical communication in saddleback and flatland tapirs (Tapirus indicus and Tapirus terrestris) kept in zoos. The Zoological Garden NF 79, 2010, pp. 162-174
  7. ^ Don Hunsaker II and John C. Hahn: Vocalization of the South American tapir, Tapirus terrestris. Animal Behavior 13, 1969, pp. 69-74
  8. ↑ Luana D'Avila Centoducatte, Danielle de O. Moreira, Jardel B. Seibert, Maria Fernanda N. Gondim, Igor da CL Acosta and Andressa Gatti: Tapirus terrestris occurrence in a landscape mosaic of Atlantic Forest and Eucalyptus monoculture in southeast Brazil. Tapir Conservation 20 (1/2), 2011, pp. 17-21
  9. ↑ Mogens Trolle, Andrew J. Noss, José Luis Passos Cordeiro and Luiz Flamarion B. Oliveira: Brazilian Tapir Density in the Pantanal: A Comparison of Systematic Camera-Trapping and Line-Transect Surveys. Biotropica 40 (2), 2008, pp. 211-217
  10. ↑ a b Fabrice Hibert, Daniel Sabatier, Judith Andrivot, Caroline Scotti-Saintagne, Sophie Gonzalez, Marie-Françoise Prévost, Pierre Grenand, Jérome Chave, Henri Caron and Cécile Richard-Hansen: Botany, Genetics and Ethnobotany: A Crossed Investigation on the Elusive Tapir's Diet in French Guiana. PLoS ONE 6 (10), 2011
  11. ^ Mathias W. Tobler, John C. Janovec and Fernando Cornejo: Frugivory and Seed Dispersal by the Lowland Tapir Tapirus terrestris in the Peruvian Amazon. Biotropica 42 (2), 2010, pp. 215-222
  12. ^ Igor Pfeifer Coelho, Luiz Flamarion B. Oliveira, Maria Elaine Oliveira and José Luís P. Cordeiro: The Importance of Natural Licks in Predicting Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris, Linnaeus 1758) Occurrence in the Brazilian Pantanal. Tapir Conservation 17 (2), 2008, pp. 5-10
  13. ↑ Nuremberg Zoo : Lowland Tapir Daisy died. ( [1] ), last accessed on May 13, 2020
  14. ↑ a b Vidal Haddad Jr, Melissa Chagas Assuncão, Ricardo Coelho de Mello and Marcelo Ribeiro Duarte: A Fatal Attack Caused by a Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in Southeastern Brazil. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 16, 2005, pp. 97-100
  15. ^ A b Mario A. Cozzuol, Camila L. Clozato, Elizete C. Holanda, Flávio HG Rodrigues, Samuel Nienow, Benoit de Thoisy, Rodrigo AF Redondo and Fabrício R. Santos: A new species of tapir from the Amazon. Journal of Mammalogy 94 (6), 2013, pp. 1331-1345 ( [2] )
  16. ^ Mary V. Ashley, Jane E. Norman and Larissa Stross: Phylogenetic Analysis of the Perissodactylan Family Tapiridae Using Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase (COII) Sequences. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 3 (4), 1996, pp. 315-326
  17. ↑ Jane E. Norman and Mary V. Ashley: Phylogenetics of Perissodactyla and Tests of the Molecular Clock. Journal of Molecular Evolution 50, 2000, pp. 11-21
  18. ↑ Manuel Ruiz-García, Catalina Vásquez, Sergio Sandoval, Franz Kaston, Kelly Luengas-Villamil and Joseph Mark Shostell: Phylogeography and spatial structure of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris, Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) in South America. Mitochondrial DNA 27 (4), 2016, pp. 2334-2342
  19. ↑ a b Fernando A. Perini, João A. Oliveira, Leandro O. Salles, Carlos R. Moraes Neto, Patrícia G. Guedes, Luiz Flamarion B. Oliveira and Marcelo Weksler: New fossil records of Tapirus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from Brazil , with a critical analysis of intra-generic diversity assessments based on lower molar size variability. Geobios 44, 2011, pp. 609-619
  20. ↑ a b Benoit de Thoisy, Anders Gonçalves da Silva, Manuel Ruiz-García, Andrés Tapia, Oswaldo Ramirez, Margarita Arana7, Viviana Quse, César Paz-y-Miño, Mathias Tobler, Carlos Pedraza and Anne Lavergne: Population history, phylogeography, and conservation genetics of the last Neotropical mega-herbivore, the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris). Evolutionary Biology 10, 2010, pp. 1-16
  21. ↑ M. Ruiz-García, C. Vásquez, M. Pinedo-Castro, S. Sandoval, A. Castellanos, F. Kaston, B. de Thoisy and J. Shostell: Phylogeography of the Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the Central American Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the Origins of the Three Latin-American Tapirs by Means of mtCyt-B Sequences. Anamthawat-Jónsson (Ed.): Current Topics in Phylogenetics and Phylogeography of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems. 2012, ISBN 978-953-510-217-5 , ( [3] )
  22. ^ Robert M. Schoch: A review of the Tapiroids. In: Donald R. Prothero and RM Schoch (Eds.): The evolution of the Perissodactyls. New-York, 1989, pp. 298-320
  23. ^ Larry G. Marshall: Land mammals and Great American Interchanche. American Scientist 76, 1988, pp. 380-388
  24. ↑ Elizete C. Holanda, Jorge Ferrigolo and Ana-Maria Ribeiro: New Tapirus species (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) from the upper Pleistocene of Amazonia, Brazil. Journal of Mammalogy, 92 (1), 2011, pp. 111-120
  25. Jump up ↑ Roselis Remor de Souza-Mazurek, Temehe Pedrinho, Xinymy Feliciano, Waraié Hilário, Sanapyty Gerôncio and Ewepe Marcelo: Subsistence hunting among the Waimiri Atroari Indians in central Amazonia, Brazil. Biodiversity and Conservation 9, 2000, pp. 579-596
  26. ↑ A. Naveda, B. de Thoisy, C. Richard-Hansen, DA Torres, L. Salas, R. Wallance, S. Chalukian and S. de Bustos: Tapirus terrestris . In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Version 2012.2
  27. ↑ Patrícia Medici: TSG Tapir Re-Introduction & Translocation Advisory Committee. Tapir Conservation 17 (1), 2008, pp. 28-29

Web links

Commons : Tapirus terrestris  - album with pictures, videos and audio files