The Tapirus from Camp dels Ninots (NE Iberia): implications for morphology, morphometry and phylogeny of Neogene Tapiridae

Abstract

Western Eurasian Neogene tapirids are an intriguing but poorly known and poorly documented group of mammals. As the Western Eurasian Tapiridae are mainly represented by scanty and fragmented remains, their systematics have been the subject of debate. Here, we describe exquisite tapirid material from the late Pliocene locality of Camp dels Ninots (CN), North-East Iberia, providing new information on the taxonomy, morphological and morphometric variability, and phylogeny of fossil species. The material studied comprises five crania of different ages, shedding new light on the ontogenetic patterns of fossil European tapirs and their variability. The adult specimens from CN are morphologically similar to other latest Pliocene tapirs from Vialette (France) and Villafranca d’Asti (Italy), and are referred here to the species Tapirus arvernensis. Further, the differences detected among the animals of different ages shed light on the variability of some features and aid in reconsidering the validity of some fossil species. A new cladistic analysis of fossil Tapiridae suggests T. arvernensis is closely related to T. indicus, and is probably an Asian immigrant. Other latest Miocene fossil species, Tapiriscus balkanicus and Ta. pannonicus, are resolved sister taxa and probably represent endemic species of Europe that were replaced by T. arvernensis.