Giant tapir
| Giant tapir Temporal range: Middle to Late Pleistocene
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|---|---|
| Skeletal reconstruction of the holotype. | |
| A restoration of Tapirus augustus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Tapiridae |
| Genus: | Tapirus |
| Species: | †T. augustus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Tapirus augustus Matthew & Granger, 1923
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| Synonyms | |
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Tapirus augustus, also known as the giant tapir is an extinct species of large tapir that lived in East and Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene epoch. Remains have been reported from across southern China, as well as in Vietnam and Laos, spanning the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Evidence for a Holocene survival is considered questionable. Tapirus augustus is the largest known tapir, with an estimated weight of about 623 kilograms (1,373 lb). The species is often placed in its own genus Megatapirus, but its placement in a separate genus has been questioned.