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Description
Meet the Panda tapir (Tapirus/Acrocodia indica). The Malayan tapir is the biggest species out of the 5 species of tapirs around today. To me, the Malayan tapir is evolutionarily interesting, because it's the only living tapir species to inhabit Asia. How did it get to Asia you may ask? Well naturally, Tapirs are traditionally an American species, with the rest of the 4 inhabiting the rainforests of Central and South America. So possibly the ancestors of the Malayan tapir migrated from the Americas to Asia when the Bering Strait formed at about 20,000 years ago. You can tell if it's a Malayan tapir by the panda-like patches on the adults, with babies being dark brown or black with white long patches along their bodies. They inhabit the montane cloud forests and tropical jungles of Southeastern Asia, from Myanmar all the way to Sumatra. These solitary animals are nocturnal and have very poor eyesight, therefore having to rely on their excellent sense of smell and hearing to be aware of predators and look for tasty plants to find, such as the shoots and leaves of more than 115 plant species, as well as twigs, herbs and fruits. Like other tapirs, they like spending most of their time in the water, using their proboscis like an snorkel to breathe. Tapirs are the most underrated perissodactyls out there and haven't changed much for the past 20 million years, though unfortunately due to ongoing habitat loss, flooding and illegal trade, we're driving these underrated, bizarre looking cuties into extinction.

Description
Meet the Panda tapir (Tapirus/Acrocodia indica). The Malayan tapir is the biggest species out of the 5 species of tapirs around today. To me, the Malayan tapir is evolutionarily interesting, because it's the only living tapir species to inhabit Asia. How did it get to Asia you may ask? Well naturally, Tapirs are traditionally an American species, with the rest of the 4 inhabiting the rainforests of Central and South America. So possibly the ancestors of the Malayan tapir migrated from the Americas to Asia when the Bering Strait formed at about 20,000 years ago. You can tell if it's a Malayan tapir by the panda-like patches on the adults, with babies being dark brown or black with white long patches along their bodies. They inhabit the montane cloud forests and tropical jungles of Southeastern Asia, from Myanmar all the way to Sumatra. These solitary animals are nocturnal and have very poor eyesight, therefore having to rely on their excellent sense of smell and hearing to be aware of predators and look for tasty plants to find, such as the shoots and leaves of more than 115 plant species, as well as twigs, herbs and fruits. Like other tapirs, they like spending most of their time in the water, using their proboscis like an snorkel to breathe. Tapirs are the most underrated perissodactyls out there and haven't changed much for the past 20 million years, though unfortunately due to ongoing habitat loss, flooding and illegal trade, we're driving these underrated, bizarre looking cuties into extinction.