Thuliadanta is an extinct genus of ceratomorph perissodactyl closely related to modern tapirs that is known from the early Eocene Margaret Formation of Arctic Canada (Nunavut and Northwest Territories).
Paleogeographic significance
Thuliadenta is known from the highest northern latitudinal region of any extinct tapiroid, indicating a possible North American origin for Tapiroidea. Judging from the use of the
mountain tapir as an analogue,
Thuliadanta may have been a year-round inhabitant in the mild temperate lowland forests of the Eocene High Arctic.
[J. J. Eberle. 2005. A new 'tapir' from Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada - Implications for northern high latitude palaeobiogeography and tapir palaeobiology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 227:311-322.]
