Helaletidae

Helaletidae
Temporal range: Early Eocene - Miocene
Skeleton of Helaletes nanus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Superfamily: Tapiroidea
Family: †Helaletidae
Osborn, 1892
Genera

The Helaletidae are an extinct family of tapiroid, closely related and likely ancestral to the true tapirs, which contain Protapirus and all descendants. In alternative classifications, Helaletidae is treated as a subfamily within the Tapiridae, the Helaletinae.

Members of the family are defined by having less bilophodont cheek teeth compared to other tapiroids.

References

  1. ↑ MacLaren, Jamie A.; Holbrook, Luke T. (2024), "The Fossil Record of Tapirs", in Melletti, Mario; Reyna-Hurtado, Rafael; Medici, Patrícia (eds.), Tapirs of the World, Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 25–59, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-65311-7_2, ISBN 978-3-031-65310-0
  2. 1 2 Tsubamoto, T.; Egi, N.; Takai, M.; Sein, C. & Maung, M. (2005). "Middle Eocene ungulate mammals from Myanmar: A review with description of new specimens" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 50 (1): 117–138.
  3. ↑ Thewissen, J. G. M.; Williams, E. M.; Hussain, S. T. (2001). "Eocene Mammal Faunas from Northern Indo-Pakistan". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (2). [Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.]: 347–366. ISSN 0272-4634.
  4. ↑ Bai, Bin; Wang, Yuan-Qing; Mao, Fang-Yuan; Meng, Jin (2017). "New Material of Eocene Helaletidae (Perissodactyla, Tapiroidea) from the Irdin Manha Formation of the Erlian Basin, Inner Mongolia, China and Comments on Related Localities of the Huheboerhe Area". American Museum Novitates. 3878 (3878): 1–44. doi:10.1206/3878.1. ISSN 0003-0082.
  5. ↑ Ruiz-García, M. (2012). "Phylogeography of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the molecular origins of the three South-American tapirs". Current Topics in Phylogenetics and Phylogeography of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems. pp. 83–116.
  6. ↑ Lucas, Spencer G. (2002). Chinese Fossil Vertebrates. Columbia University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780231504614.