Cover image: Tapirs were originated in North America in Eocene, and finally became the common animal in America and Eurasia. In the history of evolution, there existed a “tapir vaccum” during the period of Middle Miocene both in North America and Europe; but during the time span, tapirs were prosperous in China, therefore Tapirus yunanensis and its kins can be regarded as the direct ancestor of the late Cenozoic tapirs. T. yunnanensis is slightly smaller than the recent Malay tapir in body build, but very close to the latter in dentitions and postcranial bone morphology. The fossils of T. yunnanensis were only recovered from the Middle and Upper Miocene deposits at some localities in Yunnan Province, among which the Shuitangba ape fossil locality in Zhaotong bears the richest fossils of this species; up to now, the recovered fossils include partial maxillae, nearly complete mandibles, isolated teeth and postcranial bones, which are very helpful in the study of the evolution of end-Miocene tapirs. See details in the paper of Ji et al. (Illustrated by Xu Yong)
