Baird's tapir skull

The Tapir Gallery

Tapir Specimens in Museums

Legend:

Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris)
Woolly Mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque)
Asian or Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus)


  • Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
    Type in Family =Tapiridae. They had 71 specimens at last count, representing four species. But, note: when I visted in October, 1998, about half the tapir specimens were missing. For further exploration, see the museum's Homepage.

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
    This museum has a good collection of tapir materials in their research department, but it is advised to call ahead and make an appointment to see it.
  • Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley
    Index of skins, skeletons and other tapir materials in their collection.

  • The UC Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley
    One of the finest museums on the West Coast. Check for times when they are open.

  • Peabody Museum, Yale University
    Note that skins and skeletal material are searched separately, and you can get your data back in several formats. Under skeletal, I found 30 specimens (four species and three listed as "Tapirus"). There were two specimens of two species listed under skins.

  • Natural History Museum, Berne
    Mammalia Collection, Tapirus. Ten specimens represent three species. Use the search box under vertebrates to find the extent of their collection Their Homepage is here.

  • Smithsonian (USNM, now "National Museum of Natural History")
    The above link will get to you to the Smithsonian's search page for mammal specimens. For best results type in "Tapirus" or the full scientific name, such as "Tapirus bairdii." The Mammal Species of the World page will give a comprehensive listing of each tapir species including interesting information such as the type reference. A suggestion here is to go to the Common Name listing and type in "tapir." You can also get an overview of the mammal collection on the Division of Mammals main page. The Smithsonian's Homepage is here.

  • Photos of specimens from the University of Michigan
    Images of teeth and skulls of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) are shown on the site of the Animal Diversity Web.

  • Cumberland Museum, Henkelmann Life Science Collection
    There is a mounted tapir (species not given, picture not shown) in this museum in Williamsburg, Kentucky. The animals are mounted in natural settings.

  • Tapirs in Pictures
    See the "Natural History Museum" link for each species.




    The links below also give lists of museums, collections and mammal specimen databases. The ones that are searchable and/or are known to contain tapirs are printed above.

  • The Shrew (-ist's) Site, Links to Museums

  • The Smithsonian's Selected Links to Other Mammal Information Sites



    • Photo of a hybrid Baird's x lowland tapir skull by Robert A. Wilson

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