Tapir Tongue

Sumreen requested that I post on a tapir and a tapir's tongue. Well, I aim to please. Here is tapir and a tapir's tongue.

I'm not good enough with tapir taxonomy to know if this is of the mountain or lowland (Brazilian) variety. The photographer identifies it as both a mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and a Tapirus terrestris (lowland tapir). Both species hail from South America. The northern Andes are home to the mountain tapir, and the Amazon basin and its surroundings are home to the lowland tapir. Though they have pig-shaped bodies, their closest relatives (aside from the Baird and Malay tapirs) are the odd-toed ungulates (think horses and rhinoceroses). They are large animals (upwards of 7 ft, 700 lbs), famous for their adorable babies and their prehensile snouts. But, in the end, it is the snout that most serves the purposes of this blog.

I hope this gives you your tapir tongue fix, Sumreen.

Photo source: Just chaos

Your Monday ugdorable

Do you know what that animal is? If you do, pat yourself on the back. That's a baby Malayan tapir that was born at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in England. If you ever want to have a good time, stand in front of a tapir exhibit at the zoo and watch people try to guess what it is. (For some reason zoo visitors never read the signs.) The tapir has been described as looking "like the result of a night of passion involving a pig and an anteater," but it's not closely related to either. Prehistoric tapirs ranged all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas, but the only species left are this one in Asia and four in South America. Their closest living relative isn't any of the things you'll hear those zoo visitors guess - it's actually the rhinoceros.

The Malayan tapir is extremely threatened by habitat destruction, so any captive births are good news. Aside from the baby, the coverage of this birth included some truly excellent photos of the mom. We've posted some pretty darn good tapir snouts on this blog before, but I don't think I've ever seen such a good shot of it actually in use:


And check out that first link to Port Lympne for an adorable video clip of the baby whistling and wiggling its snout.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Happy World Tapir Day!

Every year, April 27th is World Tapir Day, dedicated to raising awareness of one of the most wonderful non-conventionally-attractive mammals in the world. This photo is a Baird's tapir, my favorite, which lives in Mexico and Central America. (Well, this particular one lives in New Jersey, but you get the point.) There are three (possibly four) other species, all from the New World except for the Malayan tapir, the black and white one that you are probably familiar with, if you're at all familiar with tapirs.

If you're not familiar with tapirs, of course, you're probably bewildered. People often guess that they are anteaters or some kind of pig. In fact their closest relatives are horses and rhinos, but aren't they so much more wonderful?

You can find out if your local zoo is having an event at the World Tapir Day Facebook page. Elsewhere on the web, you can find a ton of information (and an excellent gift shop) here. You might also like this webcam where you can sometimes see some Brazilian tapirs snoozing.

Celebrate!
- Wombat (No Relation)

The tapir, asserting its place

The tapir has been featured on this blog regularly. I feel this is justified because they are definitely not conventionally attractive, with their chunky outlines and odd snouts. But I also always feel slightly guilty, unsure whether they belong here because in truth I find them so adorable.

I did eventually get a chance to feature the tapir behaving extremely badly on my other blog, which I felt counted as a sort of penance. But even better, now I can give you the only picture of a tapir I have ever seen that even I find utterly unattractive.

Thanks (I think) to The Telegraph.
-Wombat (No Relation)

Happy World Tapir Day!

Did you forget that today is World Tapir Day? If so, that tapir is showing exactly what he thinks of you. Maybe he'll forgive you if you have a party this weekend instead. Do it!

-Wombat (No Relation)

Happy World Tapir Day

Hey, why wasn't I invited to this party? After all the times I've posted about tapirs!

From the Facebook page of Zoo de Cordoba, Argentina.

Happy Monday Tapir Snout!

 
From Howletts Animal Park in England.

Your Monday ugdorable

Baby Malayan tapir (that's the black and white kind) at the Belfast zoo via Zooborns, for those of you who were clamoring for relief from the horror of that last post. And you can't have too many snout-on photos of tapirs as far as I'm concerned.

At your service,
-Wombat (No Relation)

Sort Out The Theme

I'll let you sort out the theme of this post. The participants: a skink, a snake, a tapir, and an okapi.

Carrot Horns and a Tapir Nose

The Saiga once roamed the vast expanse of the Eurasian steppes. But, wouldn't you know it, the saiga has been poached to near extinction because the horns are valuable in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

I'll tell you what, you practitioners and partakers of TCM, I'll carve up some carrots in a fancy spiral pattern, and you can use them to boost your virility, or whatever you use the horns for, and hey, there'll also a tasty addition to any salad.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Photo source: Sharenator.com

Can't Go Wrong

Here are a variety of brazilian tapir photos. These five hundred lbs 'mountain cows' have become one of my favorite animals. How can you go wrong with three toes, a prehensile snout, and massive, toothy jaws? You can't.

Thanks for photos, Sarah.

Photo source: Sarah

Identity Crisis

The tapir looks like a creation of Dr. Moreau. This sleepy specimen looks like some cross between an elephant, an anteater, a mountain lion (look at that tawny coat), a pig, and might even have some koala in it. I can't quite peg the ears. This creature's ugliness doesn't have a cringe factor; it just gives you that double-take, 'I don't know what to make of it' feeling.

Their alien looks makes me wonder why this animal hasn't been made the lead character on a Saturday morning cartoon.

Thanks for the great photography, Zombie Squirrel. Check out his other work here.