Piebald Tapir Skull Replica measures 17 inches. Piebald Tapir Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Made in USA. Cast of an original California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Known as the Malayan Tapir.
The Piebald Tapir 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.
Piebald Tapir’s are primarily solitary creatures, marking out large tracts of land as their territory, though these areas usually overlap with those of other individuals.
The Piebald Tapir is the largest of the four extant tapir species and grows to between 5 ft 11 in and 8 ft 2 in. in length, not counting a stubby tail of only 2.0 to 3.9 in. in length, and stands 2 ft 11 in to 3 ft 7 in. tall.
Piebald Tapir typically weighs between 550 and 710 lb, although some adults can weigh up to 1,190 lb. The females are usually larger than the males.
It has a large sagittal crest, a bone running along the middle of the skull that is necessary for muscle attachment. It also possesses unusually positioned orbits, an unusually shaped cranium with the frontal bones elevated, and a retracted nasal incision.
All of these modifications to the normal mammal skull are, of course, to make room for the proboscis. This proboscis caused a retraction of bones and cartilage in the face during the evolution of the tapir, and even caused the loss of some cartilages, facial muscles, and the bony wall of the nasal chamber.
Like other tapir species, it has a small, stubby tail and a long, flexible proboscis. It has four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot.
The Piebald Tapir or Malayan tapir has rather poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and sense of smell.
The eyes are small with brown irises, positioned on the sides of the face. Their eyes are often covered in a blue haze, which is corneal cloudiness thought to be caused by repetitive exposure to light.
Tapirs mark out their territories by spraying urine on plants, and they often follow distinct paths, which they have bulldozed through the undergrowth.
Malayan tapirs communicate with high-pitched squeaks and whistles. They usually prefer to live near water and often bathe and swim, and they are also able to climb steep slopes.
Tapirs are mainly active at night, though they are not exclusively nocturnal. They tend to eat soon after sunset or before sunrise, and they will often nap in the middle of the night. This behavior characterizes them as crepuscular animals.
The gestation period of the Malayan tapir is about 390–395 days, after which a single offspring, weighing around 15 pounds (6.8 kg), is born.
Piebald Tapir’s are the largest of the four tapir species at birth and grow more quickly than their congeners.
Young tapirs of all species have brown hair with white stripes and spots, a pattern that enables them to hide effectively in the dappled light of the forest. This baby coat fades into adult coloration between four and seven months after birth.
Weaning occurs between six and eight months of age, at which time the babies are nearly full-grown, and the animals reach sexual maturity around age three.
Breeding typically occurs in April, May or June, and females generally produce one calf every two years. Malayan tapirs can live up to 30 years, both in the wild and in captivity.
Exclusively herbivorous, the Malayan tapir or Piebald Tapir forages for the tender shoots and leaves of more than 115 species of plants, moving slowly through the forest and pausing often to eat and note the scents left behind by other tapirs in the area.
When threatened or frightened, the Malayan tapir or Piebald Tapir can run quickly, despite its considerable bulk, and can also defend itself with its strong jaws and sharp teeth.
Piebald Tapir’s have few predators. Only tigers and Asian wild dogs, called dholes, present a threat to them.
Their greatest predators are humans, who sometimes capture them for sale or kill them. Humans also threaten tapirs by destroying their habitat. In Indonesia, rainforest is being destroyed incredibly quickly.
Humans use the land to grow crops, eliminating homes for tapirs and other wildlife. The Malayan tapir is an Endangered Species, and scientists estimate there are as few as 3,000 left.
“Threatened” is a category including all those species determined to be Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008.
