: any of a genus (Tapirus) of herbivorous chiefly nocturnal perissodactyl mammals of tropical America and southeastern Asia from Myanmar to Sumatra that have a heavy sparsely hairy body and the snout and upper lip prolonged into a short flexible proboscis
Illustration of tapir
Examples of tapir in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebHowever, unlike Nyota, she has not been introduced to her fellow Baird's tapir, Iibu, a 6-year-old male.—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 13 May 2024 Frida, a 5-year-old Baird's tapir, arrived in Milwaukee on Oct. 3 from the Houston Zoo.—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 13 May 2024 Patterns woven in natural crimson dyes by artists from the Ayoreo tribe cover the walls; wooden tortoises and tapirs, carved by Aché artisans, feature mythological scenes carefully burned into the cedar.—Laurence Blair, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024 Wildlife viewing is stellar, including scarlet macaws, tapirs, jaguars and crocodiles.—Roger Sands, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 The species may have played a role similar to what tapirs and monkeys play today, as a fruit eater and large seed disperser that helped the forest thrive.—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2023 In her work, she’s helped discover that an average of 733 seeds from 24 different species can be found in one tapir’s feces.—Mika Travis, Detroit Free Press, 14 July 2023 The animal went extinct in China some 1,000 years ago, during the Song dynasty, leading to confusion over whether references to tapirs in ancient Chinese texts refer to the large herbivorous mammal or the similarly colored panda.—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023 Hu’s team also found in the tomb a complete skeleton of a Malaysian tapir.—Lyric Li, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2023
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: any of several plant-eating hoofed mammals of tropical America and southeastern Asia that are related to the horse and rhinoceros and have a long flexible snout, a very short tail, and short thick legs
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