The undercoat and long-haired outer coat protect mountain tapirs from cool night temperatures, which can sometimes reach freezing points. They possess reddish-brown to black fur that is about an inch in length. They are normally 1.8 meters in length and reach a height of about 0.9 meters. White lips and ear tips are two other notable characteristics of mountain tapirs. Tapirs have long, massive bodies, very short and slender legs, a short neck and a short, thick tail with eleven coccygeal vertebrae.
Tapirs also have small, rounded ears which are immobile, but give a tapir a keen sense of hearing.
They generally have a rounded rear and tapered front which makes them well suited for quick movement through and around underbrush. Tapirs' most notable feature is their proboscis, which is an extension of their lips and snout, and with transverse nostrils at the tip. The surface of the nose is highly glandular and runs from the nostrils down the underside of the trunk and emerges in the palate. This structure is used by the tapirs for olfaction, similar to the Jacobson's organ of snakes. Tapirs have an exceptional sense of smell.