The Tapir is an Unusual Animal
by Owen Borville
June 21, 2020
Biology
The tapir is an unusual animal, a large four-footed mammal with a rounded body with the appearance of a mixture of a pig, rhinoceros, and small elephant but is part of a unique design and creation.
Tapirs live in the jungles and forests of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. Tapirs are active at night. Tapirs can also live in swamps, grasslands, and mountains.
Tapirs have been called primitive and living fossils because according to evolutionists they have changed little within the last 20 million years of their time scale. Creationists say that tapirs were created as part of a special creation event 6,000 years ago.
The lack of morphological change of the tapir fits in better with the creation model of a unique creation, an animal that was given what it needs to survive in its environment.
Tapir calves have a camouflage feature that helps protect them from predators such as big cats, crocodiles, and anacondas. Their fur is white and dark striped like a zebra. Adult tapirs do not have this color and change to a lighter color with no stripes.
Tapirs use their unique long snout to grab fruit, plants, and other foods as they are herbivores.
Tapirs can run 30 miles per hour and live up to 30 years in the wild.
Tapirs are normally shy but can be aggressive in rare occasions.
Tapirs have four toes on their front feet and three toes on their back feet.
The Asian tapir can be up to four feet tall and 700 pounds but the South American tapirs are smaller.
Tapirs have a special sense that they use when they raise their lips, called a flehmen response, a sense found in some other animals (cats or horses) that is something between taste and smell and tapirs use their vomeronasal organ to detect a scent.
Tapirs are excellent swimmers and their snout helps them breathe like a snorkel while their toes help them walk underwater on the lake or river floor. Tapirs can stay underwater for a few minutes. Water also helps tapirs cool down and remove parasites.
By feeding on many fruits, tapirs help disperse seeds through their feces, which helps these fruits to grow in the forests. This helps fertilize and replenish the fruit supply in the jungles and forests and therefore the tapir is an important animal in its ecosystem.
Today tapirs are currently endangered and only four classified species remain. Tapirs are hunted for their meat while farming operations and urban development are destroying tapir habitats.
by Owen Borville
June 21, 2020
Biology
The tapir is an unusual animal, a large four-footed mammal with a rounded body with the appearance of a mixture of a pig, rhinoceros, and small elephant but is part of a unique design and creation.
Tapirs live in the jungles and forests of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. Tapirs are active at night. Tapirs can also live in swamps, grasslands, and mountains.
Tapirs have been called primitive and living fossils because according to evolutionists they have changed little within the last 20 million years of their time scale. Creationists say that tapirs were created as part of a special creation event 6,000 years ago.
The lack of morphological change of the tapir fits in better with the creation model of a unique creation, an animal that was given what it needs to survive in its environment.
Tapir calves have a camouflage feature that helps protect them from predators such as big cats, crocodiles, and anacondas. Their fur is white and dark striped like a zebra. Adult tapirs do not have this color and change to a lighter color with no stripes.
Tapirs use their unique long snout to grab fruit, plants, and other foods as they are herbivores.
Tapirs can run 30 miles per hour and live up to 30 years in the wild.
Tapirs are normally shy but can be aggressive in rare occasions.
Tapirs have four toes on their front feet and three toes on their back feet.
The Asian tapir can be up to four feet tall and 700 pounds but the South American tapirs are smaller.
Tapirs have a special sense that they use when they raise their lips, called a flehmen response, a sense found in some other animals (cats or horses) that is something between taste and smell and tapirs use their vomeronasal organ to detect a scent.
Tapirs are excellent swimmers and their snout helps them breathe like a snorkel while their toes help them walk underwater on the lake or river floor. Tapirs can stay underwater for a few minutes. Water also helps tapirs cool down and remove parasites.
By feeding on many fruits, tapirs help disperse seeds through their feces, which helps these fruits to grow in the forests. This helps fertilize and replenish the fruit supply in the jungles and forests and therefore the tapir is an important animal in its ecosystem.
Today tapirs are currently endangered and only four classified species remain. Tapirs are hunted for their meat while farming operations and urban development are destroying tapir habitats.
