Florida Tapir
Tapirus veroensis
💦🐖
Chordata
Mammalia
Perissodactyla
Tapiromorpha
Tapiridae
Tapirus veroensis
The Pleistocene Giant Tapir — Tapirus veroensis, one of the largest tapirs ever to roam North America, thriving in the lush river valleys and woodlands of the Late Pleistocene before vanishing with the megafaunal collapse.
Description
Known from rich fossil deposits in Florida (notably the Vero and Melbourne sites), Tapirus veroensis was a robust, short-limbed species adapted to browsing dense forest and riparian vegetation. Its skull was broad with high nasal bones, supporting a muscular prehensile snout similar to modern tapirs. Dental morphology suggests a mixed feeding strategy, taking both soft vegetation and tougher browse. Among fossil tapirs, it was one of the latest surviving North American species, coexisting briefly with early Paleoindians and other megafauna like mastodons and giant ground sloths.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
400
1.2
1.8
2.1
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Herbivores – Browsers
Hunt History
Direct evidence of hunting is debated but suggestive. Human remains and T. veroensis fossils were found together at Vero, Florida, dated to around 11,000 years ago, one of the earliest known North American sites of human–megafauna overlap. While no confirmed butchery marks have been attributed to the tapir bones, their close association with human artifacts implies possible exploitation. Early Floridian hunter-gatherers may have opportunistically hunted or scavenged these large, slow-moving herbivores along watercourses.
Archaeological contexts:
Vero Site, Florida — Human bones, tools, and T. veroensis fossils found in direct association (~11,000 years BP).
Melbourne Site, Florida — Tapir fossils and Clovis-age artifacts from contemporaneous strata (~11,000 years BP).
Arredondo, Alachua County, Florida — Late Pleistocene T. veroensis fossils from river deposits, providing a clear view of its regional distribution.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Globally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
10000
BP
Late Pleistocene
North America
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
7
Est. Renderable Fat
19.6
kg
Targeted Organs
Visceral & subcutaneous
Adipose Depots
Subcutaneous rump, visceral
Preferred Cuts
Visceral depot
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
2