New Tapirus species (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) from the upper Pleistocene of Amazonia, Brazil

Abstract

A new species of Tapirus (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) is described from the upper Pleistocene of the Rio Madeira Formation in Araras, Nova Mamoré Municipality, Rondonia State, Brazil. Tapirus rondoniensis sp. nov. is represented by a nearly complete skull with a unique combination of characters that differ from those of extant and fossil species of Tapirus described from South America. It is diagnosed mainly by its broad frontals that bear a pneumatization extending to the frontoparietal suture, a high sagittal crest, a weakly molarized P2 lacking a protoloph, and a metaloph that merely reaches the base of the ectoloph. T. rondoniensis sp. nov. is similar in some respects to T. terrestris, but it retains some primitive dental and cranial character states in common with T. pinchaque, such as broad frontals and a weakly molarized P2. © 2011 American Society of Mammalogists.