It is hard to guess what a South American tapir weights. But we have the answer:
An adult South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris) on average weights 167.75 kg (369.82 lbs).
The South American tapir is from the family Tapiridae (genus: Tapirus). It is usually born with about 4.51 kg (9.95 lbs). They can live for up to 35 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 2.01 meter (6′ 7″). Usually, South American tapirs have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi tapi’ira), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, in Portuguese anta, and in mixed Quechua and Spanish sachavaca (literally “bushcow”), is one of the four widely recognized species in the tapir family, along with the mountain tapir, the Malayan tapir, and Baird’s tapir. The South American tapir is the largest surviving native terrestrial mammal in the Amazon.
Animals of the same family as a South American tapir
We found other animals of the Tapiridae family:
- Mountain tapir bringing 155.46 kilos (342.73 lbs) to the scale
- Malayan tapir bringing 309.61 kilos (682.57 lbs) to the scale
- Baird’s tapir bringing 292.39 kilos (644.61 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a South American tapir
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Tapirus terrestris:
- Barasingha with a weight of 171.22 kilos (377.48 lbs)
- Visayan warty pig with a weight of 189.4 kilos (417.56 lbs)
- Anoa with a weight of 180.86 kilos (398.73 lbs)
- Asinus with a weight of 172.5 kilos (380.3 lbs)
- Bornean bearded pig with a weight of 135.4 kilos (298.51 lbs)
- Brown bear with a weight of 196.14 kilos (432.41 lbs)
- East African oryx with a weight of 200.58 kilos (442.2 lbs)
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin with a weight of 186.76 kilos (411.73 lbs)
- South American sea lion with a weight of 193.67 kilos (426.97 lbs)
- Sambar deer with a weight of 176 kilos (388.01 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a South American tapir
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as South American tapir:
- Nilgai with a size of 2 meter (6′ 7″)
- South American fur seal with a size of 1.65 meter (5′ 6″)
- Spectacled bear with a size of 1.77 meter (5′ 10″)
- Malayan tapir with a size of 2.22 meter (7′ 4″)
- Crabeater seal with a size of 2.27 meter (7′ 6″)
- Polar bear with a size of 2 meter (6′ 7″)
- Gemsbok with a size of 1.62 meter (5′ 4″)
- Baiji with a size of 1.7 meter (5′ 8″)
- Lion with a size of 1.84 meter (6′ 1″)
- Ross seal with a size of 2.07 meter (6′ 10″)
Animals with the same litter size as a South American tapir
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a South American tapir:
- Orange leaf-nosed bat
- American bison
- Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain
- Brown fur seal
- Eastern white-eared giant rat
- Brown woolly monkey
- Swamp wallaby
- Red-legged pademelon
- Greater grison
- Chinese pangolin
Animals with the same life expectancy as a South American tapir
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a South American tapir:
- Bobcat with an average maximal age of 32.33 years
- Guinea baboon with an average maximal age of 40 years
- Gelada with an average maximal age of 28 years
- Ribbon seal with an average maximal age of 31 years
- Siamang with an average maximal age of 38 years
- West Indian manatee with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Water buffalo with an average maximal age of 28.25 years
- Amazonian manatee with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Hawaiian monk seal with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Spotted hyena with an average maximal age of 41.08 years