Tapirus

Tapirus
Species Information
Na'vi Name	Fwampop
Habitat	Forests
Skin	Brown, purple, and cyan
Eye Color	Greyish green
Height	1 foot (0.3 m)[citation needed]
Length	up to 1 meter (3.3 feet)
Weight	100 lbs (44 kg)[citation needed]
Behind the Scenes
First Seen	James Cameron's Avatar: The Game

The tapirus (Na'vi name: fwampop) is a docile, herbivorous tapir-like creature that lives on Pandora.

On a planet with predators, the tapirus fills the unfortunate role of being prey. Luckily, they are protected by the Na'vi who treat them like pets.

Anatomy

A tapirus can be seen eating on the right, a group of tapiri on the left in the background

The tapirus is of short stature, with flat, elephant-like feet. Its body is a light brown color with faint striping patterns across its sides. The upper half of the tapirus's body is covered in purple armor plating for protection, with raised, protruding crest structures on its back, accented with a bright cyan color. It appears to have only one set of rear-facing operculum behind its head. The tapirus's neural whips are notably located on the front of its face, connected to the top half of a fleshy beak-like structure that makes up the creature's snout, rather than extending from the back of the head. It has two sets of eyes, with the rear ones being smaller, characteristic of other Pandoran wildlife.

Habitat and Behavior

The tapirus is non-aggressive. Although not immediately dangerous, one should always avoid harming a tapirus unnecessarily, as its shrill cries are likely to attract the attention of larger (and more dangerous) predators.

During the day, they can be found wandering the forest fringe and the plains in small groups. At night, they assemble in the jungle for protection.

They are intelligent, calm and easily trained. As such, the tapirus can also be found in Na'vi villages living comfortably alongside them as pets, as they are easily trained and have a friendly disposition. They can also as a warning system against threats.

Trivia

• The name tapirus means tapir in Latin.
• A group of them can be seen in the film when Dr. Grace Augustine is visiting the Omatikaya Hometree after Jake Sully managed to get her the permission to do so.

References

See the image gallery for Tapirus