Tapir Skull at Point Defiance Zoo

August 27, 2006 ~ Tacoma, Washington

Point Defiance Zoo

There was a tapir skull on display outside the Asian tapir enclosure at Point Defiance Zoo on one of my trips up there in 2006. Tapir skulls are interesting and there was a nice young woman giving info to anyone who would listen, explaining points about the skull. Notice the huge area between the top of the jaw and that small triangle of bone above it. This is the space necessary for all the passages and muscles of the tapir's nose.

Click on any photo to enlarge.

The eye socket is not enclosed, but is wide open towards the back of the head. This is a primitive form not seen in many mammals.

Check out the inside of the nasal cavity. I'm not sure what those parallel ridges are for. And check out the guy in the corner. See what I mean about the eye sockets being different?

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TPF Awards $1,000.00 Grant to Emilio Constantino's Conservation Project in the Colombian Orinoco

Photo copyright Emilio Constantino

The Tapir Preservation Fund (TPF) is pleased to announce the winning project for our July-August 2010 call for proposals. The project, "Saving the Orinoco Tapirs in Eastern Colombia," is part of a larger initiative, "Saving Wildlife in the Colombian Orinoco," targeted to protect habitat and numerous threatened wildlife species in the region designated by the project through education, assessment, and the management of private reserves. TPF's "Heidi Frohring Memorial Fund" award of $1,000.00 will help Emilio work toward these goals.

Please read more about this award and the project on the new blog TPF is helping to maintain as part of our contribution to Emilio's work in the Orinoco of Colombia's eastern plains.

Our special thanks to the W.O. and G.L. Frohring Foundation for making this award possible.

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