The Helaletidae are an extinct family of tapiroid, closely related and likely ancestral to the true tapirs, which contain Protapirus and all descendants.[1] In alternative classifications, Helaletidae is treated as a subfamily within the Tapiridae, the Helaletinae.
| Helaletidae | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Skeleton of Helaletes nanus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Superfamily: | Tapiroidea |
| Family: | †Helaletidae Osborn, 1892 |
| Genera | |
Members of the family are defined by having less bilophodont cheek teeth compared to other tapiroids.[2]
References
edit- ^ Ruiz-García, M. (2012). "Phylogeography of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the molecular origins of the three South-American tapirs".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Lucas, Spencer G. (2002). Chinese Fossil Vertebrates. Columbia University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780231504614.
