tapirs 1. Animals [edit this paragraph] Species name [edit this paragraph] Chiroptera, tapioca mammals, commonly known as tapirs. [font size=2] Appearance characteristics [edit this paragraph] [/font] Tapiocephalidae is the most primitive Chiroptera in existence, maintaining the original features such as 4 toes on the forelimbs and 3 toes on the hind limbs. Tapirs are pig-shaped, with a retractable short nose, and are good at swimming and diving. There are only 4 species of tapioca, which are distributed in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Malai tapirs are distributed in Southeast Asia, from Myanmar, southern Thailand to Sumatra via Malay Peninsula. They are large, black and white and easy to identify. The three kinds of tapirs in America are relatively simple in body color and smaller in size than Malai tapirs. Central American tapirs, distributed between Mexico and Colombia, are the largest terrestrial animals in Latin America. South American tapirs are distributed in a vast area of South America, and their shapes are close to those of Central American tapirs, but slightly smaller. They are the most widely distributed and numerous tapirs in existence. Mandrills are distributed in the northern Andes of South America, with small size and long and slightly curly hair, which are more suitable for the cold environment in mountainous areas. Although the adult tapirs in Asia and America are quite different in color, the young tapirs are similar, with spots on their bodies, thick and bulky bodies, nearly 2 meters long and weighing more than 2 kilograms. The skin is thick and tough, and the hair is sparse; The nose is protruding forward and can stretch freely; Ears are of medium size and oval; Tail is very short; There is a pair of nipples. [font size=2] Distribution range [edit this paragraph] [/font] There are four kinds of tapirs, which are relatively primitive strange-hoofed, once spread all over Europe and Asia, and began to move to America in Miocene. The fossil of tapir was found in Pleistocene strata in southern China, and now it remains in some islands in southern Asia, Indo-China Peninsula and America. [font size=2] Life habits [edit this paragraph] [/font] Sexual timidity, developed sense of smell and hearing. Do not hurt people, have no self-defense ability, run away or run into the water when encountering the enemy; Very good at swimming and diving. Usually living alone, I like to live in tropical mountain jungles and swamps. Make a special whistle or nasal spray when you act at night. Feed on aquatic plants, all kinds of shoots, leaves and fruits. Protection level [edit this paragraph] tapirs have high scientific research value and ornamental value. It has been included in the list of protected and banned animals under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Population Status [Edit this paragraph] Tapirs are herbivores, which are like pigs, but larger than pigs. They widely lived in warm and humid environments between 1 million and 1, years ago, and mainly distributed in South China in China. However, due to environmental changes, the giant tapir became extinct 1, years ago. At present, all other tapir species have been extinct except Malai tapir, a close relative in Southeast Asia. Historically, there were a large number of tapirs in Guizhou, but only a small number of tapirs were collected in Guizhou Provincial Museum. Cao Bo, an archaeological expert in Guizhou Province, said that the excavation of giant tapir fossils provided important evidence for the dating of prehistoric archaeology and was of great value to the study of ancient climate and geographical environment. 2. Nicknames [Edit this paragraph] The nicknames of giant pandas in ancient China. See Erya, Ya, Compendium of Materia Medica, Gui Ping Zan by Bai Juyi, Biography of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Shuowen, Nanzhong Annals, Old Tang Book, Sima Xiangru's Shanglin Fu, Leibo County Annals, and Youyang Zhizhi (. Peng Ping praised Bai Juyi's work "Peng Ping Zan" (in the third year of Changqing, about 823 AD, the full text of the appendix is as follows). He was born in the southern valley. Sleep on it to ward off evil spirits. For the head wind of an old illness, every time I sleep, I often guard my head with a small screen. When you meet a painter, I order it to be written. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, this beast eats iron and copper, but nothing else. Be puzzled by something. Therefore, it was praised: what a beast, born in the south. Its name is tapir, which is neither iron nor food. In ancient times, people were loyal. Conquest fatwa, since the son of heaven. Swords and halberds are used sparingly, while copper and iron are envious. When the time is right, eat all day long. Three generations have descended, and the king has different laws. Iron is a soldier, and copper is a Buddha. The number of Buddha statues is increasing, and the weapon is increasing. Does He Shan not (sound: produce)? What valley is it? It's a waste of money, but there's nothing left. It's sad to be sad, and nothing is nothing but grace. Whoo! The sorrow of bandits is only the sorrow of the time! The most popular animal recently is the panda. In ancient China, it was also called tapir. The literati described quite a lot (note: Taiping Yu Lan 98 volumes, Animal Department 2. There are details), but the most interesting and special one is Bai Juyi's "screen praise". The reason for the article is as follows: Bai Juyi had a headache, so he asked a painter to draw a picture of a panda on the screen. Why? Because it "sleeps on the plague and tries to ward off evil spirits." Fur keeps warm, while image ward off evil spirits. Sure enough, since then, my head has no longer suffered from blowing, so I wrote this "screen praise" to commemorate it. As for the general idea of the content: pandas eat iron for a living. Since ancient times, kings have had a way, and there are not many weapons and little consumption of copper and iron. It is not too fast for pandas to eat all day! Later, a large number of copper and iron were cast into weapons and made into Buddha statues. The panda will have to starve. Bai Juyi expressed sympathy for this lovely animal. In fact, there is an implication between Bai Juyi's words: first of all, the description of "eating iron" in Shan Hai Jing may not be completely believed, so there are words of "being confused". In addition, the use of copper and iron is also quite critical, with frequent wars and more weapons. People are worried, and the number of Buddha statues increases. However, there is no solution to the problem. The emperor can love the people like a son and not light the war. How can there be a shortage of copper and iron? 3, legend [edit this paragraph] and in Japanese legend (beginning from China's "Shan Hai Jing"), "tapir" is a kind of beast that can eat people's nightmares. It is described as that every night when the sky is covered with hazy moonlight, he sets out from the deep forest to the place where people live and sucks people's dreams. He won't be afraid to wake people who are sleeping while eating dreams, because he is timid by nature, and in the night, he will only make a gentle cry like a lullaby. So people sleep more and more with this sound, and tapirs slowly take people's dreams into their pockets one by one. After eating people's dreams, tapir quietly returned to the jungle to continue his mysterious life. (Shan Hai Jing also mentioned that eating dreams can take away nightmares and give people a peaceful sleep.)