A new species of Tapir was classified by scientists, even though local villagers in Brazil and Columbia have long recognized its distinction and Teddy Roosevelt wrote about it in 1912, National Geographic reported.

Upon bringing one back to the United States, Roosevelt described it as "a bull, full-grown but very much smaller than the animal [Brazilian tapir] I had killed. The hunters said this was a distinct kind," according to Nat Geo.

With their stout frames and mini-trunks, Tapirs resemble a cross between pigs (or bulls) and elephants, though they are most directly related to the rhinoceros and horse, according to Nat Geo. They're able to use their trunks to pick fruit off branches. Capable swimmers, they cool down in small bodies of water. At around 240 pounds, the latest version has "darker hair, a lower mane, and a broader forehead," according to Nat Geo. The females tend to be slightly larger and have areas of gray around their neck and head.

Before officially designating it a unique species (and giving it the name, Tapirus kabomani), scientists had considered it a variation of the Brazilian Tapir. Partially because of its distinction by local peoples, a group of researchers from Brazil, France, and Austria set out to determine if it was actually a unique species. Indigenous hunters even helped identify the new species on video footage, according to Nat Geo.

"Local peoples have long recognized our new species, suggesting a key role for traditional knowledge in understanding the biodiversity of the region," said Mario A. Cozzuol, one of eight researches who contributed to the study, published recently in the journal .

Though they've been around for ten of millions of years, and, like the great white shark, have undergone very little change in body design, all four species are endangered (and likely the fifth one that was just recently declared). The largest of its kind can reach 800 pounds and lives in Asia, the second smallest, called the wooly tapir, lives in the Andes mountains; most, however, reside in Central and South America, according to Nat Geo.

Step one in helping to protect tapirs is to increase their exposure and helping them achieve their own identity. Roosevelt confused them for a bull, others are enamored by their elephant-like trunk, and still others refer to them as "mountain cows." It's time for the Tapir to become the Tapir, especially now that's there's five versions.