Giant tapir
| Giant tapir Temporal range: Middle to Late Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
| Skeletal reconstruction of the holotype. | |
| A restoration of Tapirus augustus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Tapiridae |
| Genus: | Tapirus |
| Species: | †T. augustus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Tapirus augustus Matthew & Granger, 1923 | |
| Synonyms | |
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The giant tapir (Tapirus augustus) is an extinct species of tapir that lived in southern China, Vietnam and Laos, with reports suggesting it also lived in Taiwan, Java, and potentially Borneo. The species has been recorded from Middle and Late Pleistocene. There is only weak evidence for a Holocene survival. Tapirus augustus was larger than any living tapir, with an estimated weight of about 623 kilograms (1,373 lb). The species was also placed in its own genus of Megatapirus, however, it is now conventionally placed within Tapirus.