Tapien

The tapien is a genus of extinct mammals that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, approximately 125 to 100 million years ago. The genus was first discovered in the early 20th century in what is now Myanmar, although the name "tapien" was not applied until the 1950s. The type species, Tapien brahmahi, was named in 1954.

Tapiens were large, herbivorous mammals with characteristics similar to those of modern-day perissodactyls, or odd-toed ungulates. They were likely quadrupedal, with a body supported by four limbs. Adult tapiens are estimated to have weighed between 200 and 900 kilograms. Fossil evidence suggests that the genus went extinct at the end of the Early Cretaceous period.

The name "tapien" is believed to be derived from the word "tapi," which refers to a neighboring village in the region where the original fossil discovery was made. In a broader sense, the term refers to a specific type of terrestrial habitat, characterized by rainforests and rivers. Some paleontologists have suggested that the name "tapien" may be too archaic and inadequate to describe the genus accurately.

Despite ongoing research, the complete understanding of tapien biogeography and evolutionary relationships remains limited due to the availability and quality of fossil data. However, tapiens are understood to have been one of the large, diverse groups of terrestrial vertebrates during the Early Cretaceous period.