Which mammal has a prehensile upper lip and is the largest living species in Tapiridae?

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The mammal with a prehensile upper lip that is the largest living species in Tapiridae is the Malayan tapir.

The Malayan tapir, Tapirus indicus, is also called the Asian or Asiatic tapir. It is the only living tapir native to Asia and is the largest of the four widely recognized living tapir species. Its striking black-and-white body pattern helps break up its outline in the dim light of Southeast Asian forests.

Its flexible, trunk-like snout is formed from the nose and upper lip. The tapir can move this prehensile structure to grasp leaves, shoots, and other vegetation, rather like a short, muscular finger. Tapirs are not pigs, despite their rounded bodies; they are perissodactyls, related to horses and rhinoceroses.

The other answer choices are also real tapirs, but they are smaller species: the mountain tapir lives in the Andes, the lowland tapir in much of South America, and Baird’s tapir in Central America and parts of northern South America. The Malayan tapir stands apart as the Asian and largest living member of the group.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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