Protapirus
Extinct genus of mammals
title: "Protapirus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["prehistoric-tapirs", "prehistoric-placental-genera", "oligocene-perissodactyla", "miocene-perissodactyla", "white-river-fauna", "oligocene-mammals-of-europe", "oligocene-mammals-of-asia", "oligocene-mammals-of-north-america", "miocene-mammals-of-europe", "miocene-mammals-of-asia", "miocene-mammals-of-north-america"] description: "Extinct genus of mammals" topic_path: "general/prehistoric-tapirs" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protapirus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Extinct genus of mammals ::
| fossil_range = Early Oligocene-Early Miocene | image = Protapirus AMNH.jpg | image_caption = Protapirus simplex skull from South Dakota. At the AMNH. | image2 = Protapirus.jpg | image2_caption = 1913 illustration of P. simplex, depicted without a trunk. | taxon = Protapirus | authority = Filhol, 1877 | type_species = †Protapirus priscus | type_species_authority = Filhol, 1874 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *P. aginensis
- P. bavaricus
- P. cetinensis
- P. douvillei
- P. gromovae
- P. obliquidens (syn. Tanyops undans)
- P. priscus
- P. simplex (syn. P. validus)
Protapirus (Latin: "before" (pro), + Brazilian Indian: "tapir" (tapira)) is an extinct genus of tapir known from the Oligocene and Miocene of North America and Eurasia.
Taxonomy
The type species is Protapirus priscus from the Late Oligocene of Quercy, France. Protapirus is often considered the earliest true tapir, or at least a tapiroid that is the direct ancestor of the true tapir family. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Protapirus_simplex_(syn._P._validus).jpg" caption="''P. simplex'' skull illustration."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Tapirus_priscus_mandible.JPG" caption="Mandible of ''Protapirus priscus.''"] ::
Distribution and history
The oldest species is the North American P. simplex from the White River Formation. A later North American species is P. obliquidens From North America, the genus spread into Eurasia during the Oligocene, with five species known from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe and a single species (P. gromovae) from Kazakhstan.
Description
They were of similar size to modern tapirs, but had more primitive features, such as premolars that were less molariform in shape. They also bore canine tusks, and the substitution of the external upper incisor for the canines is not present. In comparison to more primitive tapiroids, Protapirus had retracted nasal region which may indicate the presence of a trunk. However, the nasals were not as shortened as in modern tapirs, so the proboscis would have likely been less prominent.
References
References
- "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History".
- [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43134 The Paleobiology Database]
- (1988). "European Oligocene and early Miocene Tapiridae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia)". Annales de Paléontologie.
- (2012). "Living Fossils". Springer New York.
- "". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. (1998{{full). (September 2023)
- (2011). "Records of TAPIROIDEA GRAY, 1825 (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from KAZAKHSTAN – AN OVERVIEW". Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae.
- Scott, William Berryman. (1913). "A history of land mammals in the Western Hemisphere; illustrated with 32 plates and more than 100 drawings". Macmillan.
- (2002). "Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe". Columbia University Press.
- (2015). "The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology". Indiana University Press.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::