The Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) is the smallest of the four species of tapir and is the only one to live outside of tropical rainforests in the wild. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Subregnum Bilateria  Acoelomorpha  Orthonectida  Rhombozoa  Myxozoa  Superphylum Deuterostomia     Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascideiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Subclass Embrithopoda (extinct) Subclass Creodonta (extinct) Hyaenodontidae Oxyaenidae Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Placentalia Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Macroscelidea Perissodactyla Pholidota Primates Proboscidea Rodentia Scandentia Sirenia Tubulidentata Xenarthra Subclass Marsupialia Dasyuromorphia Didelphimorphia Diprotodontia Microbiotheria Notoryctemorphia... Families Equidae Tapiridae Rhinocerotidae The odd-toed ungulates or Perissodactyla are large to very large browsing and grazing mammals with relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe. ... Species Tapirus bairdii - Bairds Tapir Tapirus indicus - Malayan Tapir Tapirus pinchaque - Mountain Tapir Tapirus terrestris - Brazilian Tapir The tapirs are large, browsing animals, roughly pig-like in shape but with a short, prehensile trunk. ... Species Tapirus bairdii - Bairds Tapir Tapirus indicus - Malayan Tapir Tapirus pinchaque - Mountain Tapir Tapirus terrestris - Brazilian Tapir The tapirs are large, browsing animals, roughly pig-like in shape but with a short, prehensile trunk. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Jump to: navigation, search François Désiré Roulin (1796 - 1874) was a French naturalist. ... In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ... Species Tapirus bairdii - Bairds Tapir Tapirus indicus - Malayan Tapir Tapirus pinchaque - Mountain Tapir Tapirus terrestris - Brazilian Tapir The tapirs are large, browsing animals, roughly pig-like in shape but with a short, prehensile trunk. ... Rainforest on Fatu-Hiva, Marquesas Islands A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall due to the Intertropical convergence zone. ...

The Mountain Tapir is referred to as Sacha Huagra by Quechua speakers, danta cordillerana (cordilleran tapir) and danta lanuda (woolly tapir) by Spanish-speakers in Colombia, danta negra (black tapir) by Spanish-speaking Ecuadorians, and tapir de altura (tapir of the heights) or gran bestia (large beast) by Spanish-speaking Peruvians. Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... In the Sc2k5, only one man could challenge the mighty beast known as No-Tits McGee. ...

The species name comes from the term "La Pinchaque", an imaginary beast said to inhabit the same regions as the Mountain Tapir.

General Appearance and Characteristics

The Mountain Tapir is most easily recognized by its wooly coat (it is sometimes referred to as the wooly tapir) and its white lower lip.

Mountain Tapirs may have greyish-black or brown coats, often depending on where they live, and often the hair around their cheeks is lighter.

Adults are usually around 1.8 meters (6 feet) in length and 0.75 to 1 meter (2.5 to 3 feet) in height. They typically weigh between 150 and 225 kilograms (325 to 500 pounds). The females are more often larger than the males, but usually the sexes are indistinguishable by size. Like the other types of tapir, they have small stubby tails and long, flexible proboscises. They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot. In general, a proboscis is an elongated appendage of a living organism. ...

Life Cycle

The gestation period of the Mountain Tapir is approximately 400 days, after which a single offspring is born. It is very rare for more than one young to be born at once. The newborn young weighs about 7 kilograms (15 pounds) and, like all species of tapir, has a reddish-brown coat with white spots and stripes. However, like the adults of their species, baby Mountain Tapirs have wooly fur to help keep them warm. The immature coloration fades after about a year, around the time when the young animal is weaned. Mountain Tapirs reach sexual maturity at age three and can live up to 30 years. A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... Sexual maturity is the stage at which an organism can reproduce. ...

Behavior

When around other members of their species, Mountain Tapirs communicate through high-pitched whistles, and the males occasionally fight over estrous females by trying to bite each other’s rear legs. But for the most part, Mountain Tapirs are shy and lead solitary lives, spending their waking hours foraging for food on their own along well-worn tapir paths. Despite their bulk, they travel easily through dense foliage, up the steep slopes of their hilly habitat, and in water, where they often wallow and swim. The Mountain Tapir is primarily active from sundown to sunup when it forages for tender plants to eat, and it sleeps for much of the day. When trying to access high plants, it will sometimes rear up on its hind legs to reach and then grab with its prehensile snout. It also seeks out natural salt licks to satisfy its need for essential minerals. Though its eyesight is lacking, it gets by with its keen senses of smell and taste, as well as the sensitive bristles on its proboscis. Estrus (also spelled œstrus) or heat in female mammals is the period of greatest female sexual responsiveness usually coinciding with ovulation. ... Prehensility is the quality of an organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. ... A salt lick is a salt deposit that animals regularly lick. ... This article is about minerals in the geologic sense; for nutrient minerals see dietary mineral; for the band see Mineral (band). ...

Male Mountain Tapirs will frequently mark their territory with dung piles, urine, and rubbings on trees, and females will sometimes engage in these behaviors as well. The territories of individuals usually overlap, with each animal claiminging over 8 square kilometers (3 square miles). Dung can refer to: a synonym of manure (natural fertilizer consisting of animal feces) or the human equivalent Dung, Doubs, a commune in the Doubs département of France The McGillicuddy Serious Party of New Zealand campaigned on a policy of Free Dung, it is not immediately clear which Dung... Urine is liquid waste excreted by the kidneys and eventually expelled from the body in a process known as urination. ...

Habitat

The Mountain Tapir is found in the cloud forests of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador. There are reports that a small group may still be found in northwestern Peru, but these populations may be extinct. The species needs continuous stretches of cloud forest, rather than isolated patches, to successfully breed and maintain a healthy population, and this obstacle is a major concern for conservationists trying to protect the endangered animal. The Mountain Tapir lives at elevations of 1,950 to 4,400 meters (approximately 6,400 to 14,400 feet), and since at this altitude temperatures routinely fall below freezing, the animal’s wooly coat is essential. The cloud forest of Monteverde , Costa Rica A cloud forest is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane forest characterized by a high incidence of low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Conservationists are those people who tend to more highly rank the wise use of the Earths resources and ecosystems. ... An endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. ...

During the wet season, Mountain Tapirs tend to inhabit the forests of the Andes, while during the drier months, they move to the paramo where there are fewer biting insects to pester them. The wet season and the rainy season are terms used to describe seasons in which the average rainfall in a region is significantly increased. ... Paramo is the name given to an elevated track of desert (montane grasslands and shrublands) on the Andes. ... Classes & Orders Subclass: Apterygota Orders Archaeognatha (Bristletails) Thysanura (Silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass: Pterygota Orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Infraclass: Neoptera Orders Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (walking sticks) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera...

Vulnerability

The Mountain Tapir is the most threatened of the four tapir species, classified as “Endangered” by the IUCN in 1996. Some scientists predict that the species could be extinct as early as 2014. There may be only 2,500 individuals left in the wild today, making it all the more difficult for scientists to study them. There are also very few individuals found in zoos, all of which are closely related to one another. These tapirs are hunted by Jaguars and Pumas, but deforestation for agricultural purposes and poaching are the main threats to the species. The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... 2014 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Binomial name Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758) The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large member of the cat family native to warm regions of the Americas. ... Binomial name Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) The puma (Puma concolor) is a type of predator-feline found in North, Central, and South America. ... Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest. ... A seashell vendor sells seashells which have been taken alive from the water, killing the animal inside. ...