A Tapir Page
![[IMAGE of two tapir]](t4.gif)
tapir, a nocturnal, herbivorous ungulate animal of the
jungles of
Central and South American and Southeast Asia. Tapirs have a thick skin
and
a long, flexible snout. Adults are about 3 feet high and 6 or 8 feet
long.
The tapir seldom travels far from water and plunges in when pursued.
Its
flesh is palatable.
--The Columbia Encylopedia 2/e (1956)
tapir n, pl tapir or tapirs [of
Amerind origin]: any of several large inoffensive chiefly nocturnal
hoofed mammals of tropical America, Malaya, and Sumatra that have long
flexible snouts and
are related to horses and rhinoceroses.
--Webster's New Students Dictionary (1974)
tapir: Any of several large perissodactyl ungulates of the
family Tapiridae, all but one of which (the Malayan) inhabit
South or Central
America. They have a heavy, sparsely hairy body, a snout prolonged into
a
short mobile proboscis, a rudimentary tail, stout legs, and four front
and
three hind toes. They are chiefly nocturnal, shy, and gentle, and
frequent
heavy forests in the vicinity of water. Their nearest living allies are
the
horses and rhinoceroses. The Malayan, or Indian, tapir (Tapirus
malayanus
), of Sumatra and the Mayalan Peninsula, is blacking with a broad white
area on the body. The others are uniform blackish brown when adult, but
all are
streaked and spotted with whitish when young. The common Brazilian
tapir
is T. terrestris (syn. americanus). T. roulini,
or
T. pinchaque, inhabits the Andes. Two Central American species (T.
bairdi and T. dowi) form the genus tapirella (syn. E
lasmognathus), distinguished by cranial characteristics.
--Webster's New International Dictionay of the English Language
(1914)
The tapir is the unofficial symbol of the
Stanford University Department of Philosophy
, who caution you not to push the metaphor.
For more information on tapirs, check out
The Tapir Gallery
.
Eric Schulman,
