Helaletidae

The Helaletidae are an extinct family of tapiroid, closely related and likely ancestral to the true tapirs, which contain Protapirus and all descendants.^[1] In alternative classifications, Helaletidae is treated as a subfamily within the Tapiridae, the Helaletinae.

Helaletidae Temporal range: Early Eocene - Miocene
Skeleton of Helaletes nanus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Superfamily:	Tapiroidea
Family:	†Helaletidae Osborn, 1892
Genera
†Colodon †Dilophodon †Helaletes †Heptodon †Heteraletes †Paracolodon †Plesiocolopirus †Thuliadanta

Members of the family are defined by having less bilophodont cheek teeth compared to other tapiroids.^[2]

References

1. Ruiz-García, M. (2012). "Phylogeography of the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and the molecular origins of the three South-American tapirs". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Lucas, Spencer G. (2002). Chinese Fossil Vertebrates. Columbia University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780231504614.