[2] Tapirus indicus brevetianus was coined by a Dutch zoologist in 1926 who described a black Malayan tapir from Sumatra that had been sent to Rotterdam Zoo in the early 1920s.

The disrupted coloration breaks up its outline, providing camouflage by making the animal difficult to recognize against the varied terrain and dense flora of its habitat; potential predators may mistake it for a large rock, rather than prey, when it is lying down to sleep.

This evolutionary process is believed to have caused the loss of some cartilages, facial muscles, and the bony wall of the tapir's nasal chamber.

Malayan tapirs have very poor eyesight, both on land and in water, instead relying heavily on their excellent senses of smell and hearing to navigate and forage.

[further explanation needed] As these tapirs are most active at night on top of having poor eyesight, this habit may make it harder for them to search for food and avoid predators.

[16] The Malayan tapir lives throughout the tropical lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia, including Sumatra in Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Pleistocene fossils were found in Java and other locations accompanied by herbivores more typical of grasslands, indicating that it evolved in more open habitats and retreated to closed forests in later times.

[citation needed] Exclusively herbivorous, the animal forages for the tender shoots and leaves of more than 115 species of plants, of which around 30 are particularly preferred, moving slowly through the forest and pausing often to eat and note the scents left behind by other tapirs in the area.

[22] Young tapirs of all species have brown hair with white stripes and spots, a pattern that enables them to hide effectively in the dappled light of the forest.

[1] Habitat fragmentation in peninsular Malaysia caused displacement of 142 Malayan tapirs between 2006 and 2010; some were rescued and relocated, while 15 of them were killed in vehicle collisions.