Tapirus (Pinchacus) pinchaque

Abstract

Tapirus (Pinchacus) pinchaque (Roulin) SPECIMENS COLLECTED: None. OTHER MATERIAL: Two specimens of the woolly tapir are known from Papallacta. The first (AMNH 70521), consisting of a skull collected by the Olallas (a family of professional collectors) in 1925, is unaccompanied by other geographic data. The second (AMNH 149370) is the skin and skull of an individual that was captured alive by C. Cordier, who sold it to the New York Zoological Society in 1952; an index card in the AMNH collection archives indicates that this specimen was captured at 11,500 ft (3505 m), but Hershkovitz (1954: 476) reported the capture elevation as 3150 m. TAXONOMY: The taxonomy of living Neotropical tapirs was revised by Hershkovitz (1954), who diagnosed the subgenus Pinchacus and established that Roulin’s is the oldest valid name for the woolly montane species. REMARKS: Woolly tapirs have long been hunted in the vicinity of Papallacta and Antisana, from which hides and meat are still exported for sale in the street markets of Quito (Downer, 1997). Although tracks and droppings are commonly encountered (Black, 1982), the animal itself is seldom seen.