Peccary

The word peccary is derived from the Carib word {{lang|car|pakira}} or {{lang|car|paquira}}.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=peccary |title= Peccary|dictionary= Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=26 March 2012}}

In Portuguese, a peccary is called {{lang|pt|pecari}}, {{lang|pt|porco-do-mato}}, {{lang|pt|queixada}}, {{lang|pt|tajaçu}}, among other names like {{lang|pt|Cateto}} or {{lang|pt|Caititu}}. In Spanish, it is called {{lang|es|javelina}}, {{lang|es|jabalí}} (a word also used to describe wild boar), {{lang|es|sajino}}, or {{lang|es|pecarí}}. The word javelina derives from the Spanish word for "wild boar".[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/javelina "javelina"] In French Guiana and Suriname, the animal is called pakira.

The scientific name Tayassuidae derives from the same source as the Portuguese {{lang|pt|tajaçu}}.A. B. H. Ferreira, Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, second edition (Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1986), page 1530

File:Sus scrofa & Tayassu pecari.jpg (left) and white-lipped peccary (right): Note how the upper canines of the peccary point downwards.]]

A peccary is a medium-sized animal, with a strong resemblance to a pig. Like a pig, it has a snout ending in a cartilaginous disc and eyes that are small relative to its head. Also like a pig, it uses only the middle two digits for walking, although, unlike pigs, the other toes may be altogether absent. Its stomach is not ruminating. Though it has three chambers, it is more complex than those of pigs.{{cite book |editor=Macdonald, D. |author=Castellanos, Hernan |year=1984 |title=The Encyclopedia of Mammals |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/504 504–505] |isbn=978-0-87196-871-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0 |url-access=registration}} Peccaries are foregut fermenters (pigs are hindgut fermenters).{{Cite web |last=Jordano |first=Pedro |date=2016-12-27 |title=It takes guts to disperse seeds: the amazing physiologies of megafauna |url=https://pedrojordano.wordpress.com/2016/12/28/it-takes-guts-to-disperse-seeds-the-amazing-physiologies-of-megafauna/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=The Red Notebook {{!}} Pedro Jordano |language=en}} This foregut fermentation, similar to but separately evolved from a ruminant, is an example of convergent evolution.

Peccaries are omnivores and will eat insects, grubs, and occasionally small animals, although their preferred foods consist of roots, grasses, seeds, fruit, and cacti—particularly prickly pear.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3-kkgAxxnoC |title=Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Their Biology, Management, and Use |first=Lyle K. |last=Sowls |edition=2nd |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-89096-717-1 |pages=69–70}} Pigs and peccaries can be differentiated by a number of characteristics, including tails and ear shape. The ears of pigs are large and upright and often pointed while the ears of peccaries are small and rounded. Pigs also have tasseled tails, but peccaries' tails are small and discreet.{{Cite web |title=Peccary |website=San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Animals & Plants |url=https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/peccary |access-date=April 24, 2023}}

The most noticeable difference between pigs and peccaries is the shape of the canine teeth, or tusks. In European pigs, the tusks are long and curve around on themselves, whereas in peccaries, the tusks are short and straight and interlock with each other, prohibiting side-to-side movement of the jaw. The jaws and tusks of peccaries are adapted for crushing hard seeds and slicing into plant roots, and they also use their tusks to defend against predators. The dental formula for peccaries is: {{DentalFormula|upper=2.1.3.3|lower=3.1.3.3}}

By rubbing the tusks together, they can make a chattering noise that warns potential predators to stay away.

Peccaries are social animals, often forming herds. Over 100 individuals have been recorded for a single herd of white-lipped peccaries, but collared and Chacoan peccaries usually form smaller groups. Such social behavior seems to have been the situation in extinct peccaries as well. The giant peccary (Pecari maximus) of Brazil appears to be less social, primarily living in pairs.{{cite journal |url=http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/360180 |author1=Roosmalen, M.G.M. |author2=Frenz, L. |author3=Hooft, W.F. van |author4=Iongh, H.H. de |author5=Leirs, H. |year=2007 |title=A New Species of Living Peccary (Mammalia: Tayassuidae) from the Brazilian Amazon |journal=Bonner Zoologische Beiträge |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=105–112}} Peccaries rely on their social structure to defend territory, protect against predators, regulate temperature, and interact with other members of the species.{{Cite web |title=Javelina |website=Arizona's Wildlife |publisher=Arizona Game and Fish Department |url=https://www.azgfd.com/wildlife/livingwith/javelina/ |access-date=2016-02-17}}

Peccaries have scent glands below each eye and another on their backs, though these are believed to be rudimentary in P. maximus. They use the scent to mark herd territories, which range from {{convert|75|to|700|acre|ha|-1|order=flip|abbr=off}}. They also mark other herd members with these scent glands by rubbing one against another. The pungent odor allows peccaries to recognize other members of their herd, despite their myopic vision. The odor is strong enough to be detected by humans, which earns the peccary the nickname of "skunk pig".

{{see also|List of suines}}

Three (possibly four) living species of peccaries are found from the Southwestern United States through Central America and into South America and Trinidad, each in their own genus.

• Tayassu
• White-lipped peccary (T. pecari)
• Catagonus
• Chacoan peccary (C. wagneri)
• Dicotyles
• Collared peccary (D. tajacu)

The collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) or "musk hog", referring to the animal's scent glands, occurs from the Southwestern United States into South America and the island of Trinidad. The coat consists of wiry peppered black, gray, and brown hair with a lighter colored "collar" circling the shoulders. They bear young year-round, but most often between November and March, with the average litter size consisting of two to three offspring. They are found in many habitats, from arid scrublands to humid tropical rain forests. The collared peccary is well-adapted to habitat disturbed by humans, merely requiring sufficient cover. They can be found in cities and agricultural land throughout their range.

Notable populations exist in the suburbs of Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, where they feed on ornamental plants and other cultivated vegetation.{{cite journal |url=http://www.nationalwildlife.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleID=308&issueID=19 |title=Winners and Losers |first=Peter |last=Friederici |journal=National Wildlife Magazine |date=August–September 1998 |volume=36 |issue=5}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3-kkgAxxnoC |title=Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Their Biology, Management, and Use |first=Lyle K. |last=Sowls |edition=2nd |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-89096-717-1 |pages=67–68}} There are also urban populations as far north as Sedona, Arizona, where they have been known to fill a niche similar to raccoons and other urban scavengers.{{Cite news|date=25 January 2008|work=The Daily Courier |url=https://www.dcourier.com/news/2008/jan/25/unwelcome-visitors-javelinas-and-humans-do-not-mi/|title=Unwelcome visitors: Javelinas and humans do not mix well|access-date=2 February 2018}} In Arizona they are often called by their Spanish name "javelinas". Collared peccaries are generally found in bands of 8 to 15 animals of various ages. They defend themselves if they feel threatened, but otherwise tend to ignore humans.

A second species, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), is mainly found in rainforests of Central and South America, but also known from a wide range of other habitats such as dry forests, grasslands, mangrove, cerrado, and dry xerophytic areas.{{Cite iucn |author=Keuroghlian, A. |author2=Desbiez, A. |author3=Reyna-Hurtado, R. |author4=Altrichter, M. |author5=Beck, H. |author6=Taber, A. |author7=Fragoso, J.M.V. |name-list-style=amp |title=Tayassu pecari |volume=2013 |page=e.T41778A44051115 |date=2013 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T41778A44051115.en}} The two main threats to their survival are deforestation and hunting.

The third species, the Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri). It is found in the dry shrub habitat or Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. The Chacoan peccary has the distinction of having been first described based on fossils and was originally thought to be an extinct species. In 1975, the animal was discovered in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The species was well known to the native people.

A fourth as yet unconfirmed species, the giant peccary (Dicotyles maximus), was described from the Brazilian Amazon and north Bolivia{{cite journal |last1=Moravec |first1=J. |last2=Böhme |first2=W. |year=2009 |title=Second Find of the Recently Discovered Amazonian Giant Peccary, Pecari maximus (Mammalia: Tayassuidae) van Roosmalen et al., 2007: First Record from Bolivia |journal=Bonner zoologische Beiträge |volume=56 |issue=1–2 |pages=49–54 |url=https://zoologicalbulletin.de/BzB_Volumes/Volume_56_1_2/049_054_BzB56_1_2_Moraves_Jiri_and_B%C3%B6hme_Wolfgang.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030515/http://alt.zfmk.de/BZB/BzB_56_1_07_Moravec.pdf |url-status=live}} by Dutch biologist Marc van Roosmalen. Though relatively recently discovered, it has been known to the local Tupi people as caitetu munde, which means "great peccary which lives in pairs".{{cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Robin |date=2007-11-02 |title=Big Pig-Like Beast Discovered |url=http://www.livescience.com/1997-big-pig-beast-discovered.html |work=livescience.com }}{{cite news |title=Giant wild pig found in Brazil |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2007-11-05 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/nov/05/conservation.sciencenews |access-date=2012-12-18}} Thought to be the largest extant peccary, it can grow to {{cvt|1.2|m|ft|0}} in length. Its pelage is completely dark gray, with no collars whatsoever. Unlike other peccaries, it lives in pairs, or with one or two offspring. However, the scientific evidence for considering it as a species separate from the collared peccary has later been questioned,{{Cite journal |last1=Gongora |first1=J. |last2=Taber |first2=A. |last3=Keuroghlian |first3=A. |last4=Altrichter |first4=M. |last5=Bodmer |first5=R.E. |last6=Mayor |first6=P. |last7=Moran |first7=C. |last8=Damayanti |first8=C.S. |last9=González |first9=S. |year=2007 |title=Re-examining the evidence for a 'new' peccary species, 'Pecari maximus', from the Brazilian Amazon |url=https://www.iucn-wpsg.org/_files/ugd/119740_0dc9019f69984c5cbac8e256cd3b1968.pdf#page=19 |journal=Newsletter of the Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos Specialist Group of the IUCN/SSC |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=19–26}}{{cite journal |last1=Gongora |first1=J. |last2=Biondo |first2=C. |last3=Cooper |first3=J.D. |last4=Taber |first4=A. |last5=Keuroghlian |first5=A. |last6=Altrichter |first6=M. |last7=Ferreira do Nascimento |first7=F. |last8=Chong |first8=A.Y. |last9=Miyaki |first9=C.Y. |last10=Bodmer |first10=R. |last11=Mayor |first11=P. |last12=González |first12=S. |year=2011 |title=Revisiting the species status of Pecari maximus van Roosmalen et al., 2007 (Mammalia) from the Brazilian Amazon |journal=Bonner zoologische Beiträge |volume=60 |issue=1 |url=https://zoologicalbulletin.de/BzB_Volumes/Volume_60_1/095_101_BzB60_1_Gongora_%20Jaime_et_al.pdf |pages=95–101}} leading the IUCN to treat it as a synonym.{{Cite iucn |author=Gongora, J. |author2=Reyna-Hurtado, R. |author3=Beck, H. |author4=Taber, A. |author5=Altrichter, M. |author6=Keuroghlian, A. |name-list-style=amp |title=Pecari tajacu |volume=2011 |page=e.T41777A10562361 |date=2011 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T41777A10562361.en}}

During the Late Pleistocene, two extinct peccaries, Mylohyus and Platygonus, were widespread across North America (and in the case of Platygonus, South America), but became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene around 12,000 years ago following the arrival of humans.{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Kurt M. |last2=Hill |first2=Matthew G. |date=November 2020 |title=Synthesis and assessment of the flat-headed peccary record in North America |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=248 |pages=106601 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106601 |bibcode=2020QSRv..24806601W |s2cid=224865922}}

File:Collared Peccary444.jpg|Collared peccary

File:Tayassu pecari.jpg|White-lipped peccary

File:Catagonus wagneri closeup.jpg|Chacoan peccary

In addition, Tayassuidae have a well-attested fossil record, and numerous extinct genera are known:{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

• †Aptenohyus
• †Cynorca
• †Egatochoerus
• †Floridachoerus
• †Macrogenis
• †Mckennahyus
• †Mylohyus
• †Platygonus
• †Prochoerus
• †Prosthennops
• †Simojovelhyus{{Cite journal |last1=Prothero |first1=Donald R. |last2=Beatty |first2=Brian L. |last3=Stucky |first3=Richard M. |year=2013 |title=Simojovelhyus is a peccary, not a helohyid (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) |url=http://www.donaldprothero.com/files/92370301.pdf |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=87 |issue=5 |pages=930–933 |bibcode=2013JPal...87..930P |doi=10.1666/12-084 |s2cid=129670001}}
• †Skinnerhyus
• †Thinohyus
• †Woodburnehyus

Although some taxa from the Old World like the European Miocene Taucanamo have been suggested to be members of Tayussidae, their assignation to the group is equivocal, with a 2017 phylogenetic analysis recovering Taucanamo outside the clade containing suids and peccaries. The oldest unambiguous fossils of peccaries are from the Early Miocene of North America, with the North American Eocene-Oligocene genus Perchoerus, also often considered an early peccary, recovered outside the clade containing peccaries and suids.{{Cite journal |last1=Parisi Dutra |first1=Rodrigo |last2=Casali |first2=Daniel de Melo |last3=Missagia |first3=Rafaela Velloso |last4=Gasparini |first4=Germán Mariano |last5=Perini |first5=Fernando Araujo |last6=Cozzuol |first6=Mario Alberto |date=2016-09-13 |title=Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=345–358 |doi=10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8 |s2cid=27963274 |issn=1064-7554|hdl=11336/54840 |hdl-access=free }}

Although common in South America today, peccaries did not reach there until about three million years ago during the Great American Interchange, when the Isthmus of Panama formed, connecting North America and South America. At that time, many North American animals—including peccaries, llamas and tapirs—entered South America, while some South American species, such as the ground sloths and opossums, migrated north.{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Greg |date=1999-03-27 |url=http://www.nps.gov/hafo/platygon.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020805090520/http://www.nps.gov/hafo/platygon.htm |archive-date=2002-08-05 |title=Pearce's Peccary – Platygonus Pearcei |work=Hagerman Fossil Beds' Critter Corner |via=nps.gov }} Several species of peccary across the genera Platygonus and Mylohyus remained in North America until their extinction following the colonization of the continent by humans via Beringia at the end of the Pleistocene. Today, 2 of the 3 species are relegated to the Neotropical realm, but the collared peccary ranges into northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.{{Clear}}

Peccaries bear a familial resemblance to true pigs due to their common ancestry, and are in the same suborder as swine (Suina). They have been present in South America since prehistoric times.{{cite journal |last1=Gongora |first1=J. |last2=Moran |first2=C. |title=Nuclear and mitochondrial evolutionary analyses of Collared, White-lipped, and Chacoan peccaries (Tayassuidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=2005 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=181–189 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.08.021|pmid=15579391 |bibcode=2005MolPE..34..181G }} The earliest scientific description of peccaries in the New World is in Brazil in 1547 and referred to them as "wild pigs".{{cite journal |last1=Donkin |first1=R.A. |title=The Peccary -- With Observations on the Introduction of Pigs to the New World |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date=1985 |volume=75 |issue=5 |page=3|doi= 10.2307/1006340|jstor=1006340 }}

It has been documented that peccaries were tamed, penned, and raised for food and ritual purposes in the Yucatán, Panama, the southern Caribbean, and Colombia at the time of the Conquest.{{cite journal |last1=Donkin |first1=R.A. |title=The Peccary -- With Observations on the Introduction of Pigs to the New World |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date=1985 |volume=75 |issue=5 |page=30,35–39|doi= 10.2307/1006340|jstor=1006340 }} Archaeological remains of peccaries have been found in Mesoamerica from the Preclassic (or Formative) period up until immediately before Spanish contact.{{cite journal |last1=Donkin |first1=R.A. |title=The Peccary -- With Observations on the Introduction of Pigs to the New World |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date=1985 |volume=75 |issue=5 |page=29|doi= 10.2307/1006340|jstor=1006340 }} Specifically, peccary remains have been found at Early Formative Olmec civilization sites.{{Cite book |last=Venderwarker |first=Amber M. |url=https://archive.org/details/farminghuntingfi0000vand |title=Farming, Hunting, and Fishing in the Olmec World |date=2006 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=9780292726246 |location=Austin, Texas |pages=[https://archive.org/details/farminghuntingfi0000vand/page/125 125]–127, [https://archive.org/details/farminghuntingfi0000vand/page/131 131] |url-access=limited}}

The peccary is not readily suitable for modern captive breeding, lacking suitable characteristics for intensive or semi-intensive systems. Peccaries require a higher age before they are able to give birth (parturition) and have a tendency towards infanticide.{{Cite journal |last1=Rushton |first1=Jonathan |last2=Viscarra |first2=Rommy |last3=Viscarra |first3=Cecilia |last4=Basset |first4=Frederick |last5=Baptista |first5=Rene |last6=Huallata |first6=Corsino |last7=Brown |first7=David |date=December 2004 |title=Captive breeding of wild species – a sceptical view of the prospects |url=https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3294.pdf |journal=Wildlife Policy Briefing |issue=9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824094952/http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3294.pdf |archive-date=2014-08-24}}

Recently established Brazilian boar populations are not to be confused with long-established populations of feral domestic pigs, which have existed mainly in the Pantanal for more than 100 years, along with native peccaries. The demographic dynamics of the interaction between feral pig populations and those of the two native species of peccaries (collared peccary and white-lipped peccary) is obscure and is still being studied. The existence of feral pigs could somewhat ease jaguar predation on peccary populations, as jaguars show a preference for hunting pigs when they are available.{{Cite web |last=Furtado |first=Fred |date=February 13, 2009 |title=Porco-monteiro: invasor ou vizinho? |trans-title=Wild pig: invader or neighbor? |url=https://cienciahoje.org.br/porco-monteiro-invasor-ou-vizinho/ |publisher=Ciencia Hoje}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Tayassuidae}}

• [http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/urban_javelina.shtml Arizona Game and Fish Department – Living With Javelina] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313103245/http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/urban_javelina.shtml |date=13 March 2016 }}
• [https://azstateparks.com/javelina Arizona State Parks and Trails- Javelina]

{{Artiodactyla|S.}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q232866}}

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Category:Ungulates of Central America

Category:Mammals of South America

Category:Priabonian first appearances

Category:Extant Eocene first appearances

Category:Taxa named by Theodore Sherman Palmer