The Family Tapiridae are odd-toed ungulates, consisting of five extant species in one genus, as well as any of the numerous extinct species.

The five extant species of tapirs are the Brazilian tapir, the Malayan tapir, the Baird's tapir, the kabomani tapir, and the mountain tapir.

Four of the species of Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and one species is in Southeastern Asia. Four of the species have been classified as endangered or vulnerable.

Tapirs are herbivorous mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short nose trunk which serves a similar purpose as does the trunk of an elephant.

Their closest relatives are the other odd-toed ungulates, which include horses, donkeys, zebras and rhinoceroses.

Baird's tapir, also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America.

The Baird's tapir is commonly called danta by people in all areas. In the regions around Oaxaca and Veracruz, it is referred to as the anteburro. The Panamanians, and Colombians call it macho de monte, and in Belize, where the Baird's tapir is the national animal, it is known as the mountain cow.

Baird's tapir has a distinctive cream-colored marking on its face and throat and a dark spot on each cheek, behind and below the eye. The rest of its hair is dark brown or grayish brown.

This is the largest of the four American species and the largest native land mammal in both Central and South America.

Baird's tapirs average 2 m (6.6 feet) in length but can range between 1.8 and 2.5 m (5.9 feet and 8.2 feet), not counting a stubby, vestigal tail of 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 inches), and 73 to 120 cm (2.4 feet to 4 feet) in height. Body mass in adults can range from 150 to 400 kilograms (330 to 880 pounds).

The Malayan tapir, also called the Asian tapir, is the largest of the five species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The scientific name refers to the East Indies, the natural habitat of the species. In the Malay language, the tapir is commonly referred to as cipan, tenuk or badak tampung.

The animal is easily identified by its markings, most notably the light-colored patch that extends from its shoulders to its rear end. The rest of its hair is black, except for the tips of its ears, which, as with other tapirs, are rimmed with white. This pattern is for camouflage as this disrupted coloration makes it more difficult for other animal to recognize it as a tapir, but instead may mistake it for a large rock rather than prey when it is lying down to sleep.

The Malayan tapir has four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot and like other tapir, they have small, stubby tails and long, flexible proboscises. These tapirs have rather poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and sense of smell.

Malayan tapirs grow to between 1.8 and 2.5 m (6 feet to 8 feet) in length, not counting a stubby tail of only 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) in length, and stand 90 to 110 cm (3 feet to 3 feet 7 inches) tall. They typically weigh between 250 and 320 kg (550 and 710 pounds), although some adults can weigh as much as 540 kg (1,200 pounds). The females are usually larger than the males.

The Malayan tapir was once found throughout the tropical lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, its numbers have decreased in recent years, and today, like all tapirs, it is in danger of extinction.

The kabomani tapir is also known as the little black tapir is a large browsing mammals similar in shape to a pig. It is the smallest tapir species, even smaller than mountain tapir, which had been considered the smallest. The kabomani is found in the Amazon rainforest, where it occupies the same area as the appears to be sympatric with the Brazilian tapir).

When it was discovered and announced in December 2013, kabomani was the first odd-toed ungulate discovered in over 100 years. Due to the recency of discovery and it′s tendency to avoid people, little is known about the behavior of the kabomani tapir.

The kabomani tapir also seems to exhibit some level of sexual dimorphism as females tend to be larger than males and possess a characteristic patch of light hair on their throats. The patch extends from the chin up to the ear and down to the base of the neck.

The kabomani tapir is nocturnal and generally solitary although male-female pairs have been spotted during day.

With an estimated weight of only 110 kg (240 pounds), the kabomani tapir is the smallest living tapir. Tapirus kabomani is roughly 130 centimetres (51 inches) long and 90 centimetres (35 inches) in shoulder height

The mountain tapir or woolly tapir is the second-smallest of the five species of tapir, with the recently described kabomani tapir being smaller, and is the only one to live outside of tropical rainforests in the wild. It is most easily distinguished from other tapirs by it′s white lips and thick wooly coat, which unlike all other species of tapir, the fur is long and wooly, especially on the underside and flanks, reaching up to 3.5 cm (1.5 inches).

The species name comes from the term "La Pinchaque", an imaginary beast said to inhabit the same regions as the mountain tapir.

Mountain tapirs are black or very dark brown, with occasional pale hairs flecked in amongst the darker fur. The fur becomes noticeably paler on the underside, around the anal region, and on the cheeks. A distinct white band runs around the lips, although it may vary in extent, and there are usually also white bands along the upper surface of the ears.

In adults, the rump has paired patches of bare skin, which may help to indicate sexual maturity. The eyes are initially blue, but change to a pale brown as the animal ages.

Mountain tapirs are shy and lead solitary lives, spending their waking hours foraging for food on their own along well-worn tapir paths. Despite their bulk, they travel easily through dense foliage, up the steep slopes of their hilly habitats, and in water, where they often wallow and swim.

Adults are usually around 1.8 m (6 feet) in length and 0.75 to 1 m (2.5 to 3.3 feet) in height at the shoulder. They typically weigh between 136 and 250 kg (300 and 551 pounds), and while the sexes are of similar size, females tend to be around 25 to 100 kilograms (55 to 220 pounds) heavier than the males.

The Brazilian tapir, or South American tapir, is called anta in Portuguese, is a lowland tapir and the largest surviving native terrestrial mammal in the Amazon.

It is dark brown, paler in the face, and has a low, erect crest running from the crown down the back of the neck. The round, dark ears have distinctive white edges. Newborn tapirs have a dark brown coat, with small white spots and stripes along the body.

The Brazilian tapir can be found near water in the Amazon rain forest and river basin in South America, east of the Andes. Its range stretches from Venezuela, Colombia, and the Guianas in the north to Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the south, to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the West.

Lowland tapirs are excellent swimmers and divers, but also move quickly on land, even over rugged, mountainous terrain. They have a life span of approximately 25 to 30 years.

In the wild, their main predators are crocodiles (only the black caiman and Orinoco crocodile are large enough to take these tapirs) and large cats, such as the jaguar and cougar, which often attack tapirs at night when they leave the water to sleep on the riverbank. Brazilian tapirs are also attacked by the green anacondas. These tarpins are known to run to water to take cover when scared.

The Brazilian tapir can attain a body length of 1.8 to 2.5 m (6 to 8.2 feet) with a 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inch) short stubby tail and an average weight around 225 kg (496 pounds). Adult weight has been reported ranging from 150 to 320 kg (330 to 710 pounds). It stands somewhere between 77 to 108 cm (30 to 43 inches) at the shoulder.