Biology:Tapiroidea
Tapiroidea is a superfamily of perissodactyls which includes the living tapirs and their extinct relatives. Tapiroids represent one of the oldest living lineages of large mammals.[1] Their closest living relatives are rhinoceroses; the ancestral lineages of tapirs and rhinoceroses split from each other approximately 51–47 million years ago.[1] Once a large group encompassing several families,[2] tapiroids are today represented only by the four living species of the genus Tapirus. All living species are listed as endangered or vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.[1]
Fossil record
The fossil record of tapiroids stretches back to the Early Eocene.[2][3] Out of the three extant perissodactyl lineages, tapirs have the poorest and least well understood fossil record.[2] Most tapiroids appear to have been relatively conservative, unlike the diversity seen in equoids and rhinocerotoids.[2] Both ancient and modern tapirs appear to have inhabited closed-canopy warm forests.[2]
Tapiroids were numerous and widespread in the Eocene in both North America and Asia, and is represented by several taxa in the Oligocene of both North America and Europe.[1] Tapiroid diversity sharply declined after the Oligocene.[1] Tapiridae first appeared during the early Oligocene in Europe, and may have originated from the tapiroid family Helaletidae.[3][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Medeiros Pinho, Gabriela; Qi, Luan Lim; Annavi, Geetha; Gonçalves da Silva, Anders; Saranholi, Bruno H. (2024). "Evolution, Biogeography, and Genetics of Living Tapirs". in Melletti, Mario. Tapirs of the World. Springer Nature. pp. 3–24. ISBN 978-3-031-65310-0. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tapirs_of_the_World/K3c1EQAAQBAJ.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 MacLaren, Jamie A.; Holbrook, Luke T. (2024). "The Fossil Record of Tapirs". in Melletti, Mario. Tapirs of the World. Springer Nature. pp. 25–59. ISBN 978-3-031-65310-0. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tapirs_of_the_World/K3c1EQAAQBAJ.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bai, Bin; Meng, Jin; Mao, Fang-Yuan; Zhang, Zhao-Qun; Wang, Yuan-Qing (2019-11-08). Smith, Thierry. ed. "A new early Eocene deperetellid tapiroid illuminates the origin of Deperetellidae and the pattern of premolar molarization in Perissodactyla" (in en). PLOS ONE 14 (11). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225045. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 31703104. Bibcode: 2019PLoSO..1425045B.
- ↑ Scherler, Laureline; Becker, Damien; Berger, Jean-Pierre (2011). "Tapiridae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) of the Swiss Molasse Basin during the Oligocene–Miocene transition" (in en). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31 (2): 479–496. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550360. ISSN 0272-4634. Bibcode: 2011JVPal..31..479S. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2011.550360.
Template:Perissodactyla Genera
Wikidata ☰ Q7684685 entryTemplate:Paleo-perissodactyl-stub
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