Kolpochoerus

Kolpochoerus Temporal range: Zanclean to Pleistocene 5.3–.0126  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Kolpochoerus limnetes skull
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Suidae
Genus:	† Kolpochoerus van Hoepen and van Hoepen, 1932
Type species
†Kolpochoerus heseloni Leakey, 1943 [1]
Species
See text

Kolpochoerus is an extinct genus of the pig family Suidae related to the modern-day genera Hylochoerus , Phacochoerus , and Potamochoerus . It is believed that most of them inhabited African forests, as opposed to the bushpig and red river hog that inhabit open brush and savannas. There are currently eleven recognized species.

Species

The restoration of Kolpochoerus limentes

In taxonomic order:^{[ citation needed ]}

• Genus †Kolpochoerus
  • K. deheinzelini — Chad, Ethiopia (Early Pliocene)
  • K. afarensis - eastern Africa (Pliocene)
  • K. limnetes- eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
  • K. millensis — Central Afar, Ethiopia (Pliocene)
  • K. cookei - Ethiopia (Late Pliocene)
  • K. heseloni - eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
  • K. olduvaiensis - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. majus - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. phacochoeroides - Morocco (Late Pliocene)
  • K. paiceae - South Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. phillipi - Ethiopia (Pleistocene)

Palaeoecology

Based on dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) of its fossils from Kanapoi and Hadar, K. afarensis had a broad, unspecialised diet that included foods that were hard and brittle as well as underground foods such as roots and tubers. ^[2] DMTA of Kolpochoerus fossils from the Shungura Formation suggests that the genus had a preference for young, minimally abrasive grasses. ^[3]

References

1. Prothero, Donald R. (2007). The Evolution of Artiodactyls. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 148. ISBN   9780801887352.
2. Lazagabaster, Ignacio A. (July 2019). "Dental microwear texture analysis of Pliocene Suidae from Hadar and Kanapoi in the context of early hominin dietary breadth expansion" . Journal of Human Evolution . 132: 80–100. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.04.010 . Retrieved 1 February 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
3. Louail, Margot; Souron, Antoine; Merceron, Gildas; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud (19 March 2025). "New insights on feeding habits of Kolpochoerus van Hoepen & van Hoepen, 1932 from the Shungura Formation (Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia) using dental microwear texture analysis". Comptes Rendus Palevol . 24 (7). doi: 10.5852/cr-palevol2025v24a7 . ISSN   1777-571X . Retrieved 7 April 2025.

• Thomas, P. 1884. Recherches stratigraphiques et paléontologiques sur quelques formations d’eau douce de l’Algérie. Mémoires de la Société géologique de France, 3ème série, 3, 1–50. ISSN 0078-8554 Palaeont. afr. (December 2004) 40: 69–83 83
• New skulls of Kolpochoerus phacochoeroides (Suidae: Mammalia) from the late Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Denis Geraads UPR 2147 du CNRS, 44 rue de l’Amiral Mouchez, 75014 PARIS, France Received 10 August 2004. Accepted 20 December 2004.
• Haile-Selassie, Y.; Simpson, S.W. 2013: A new species of Kolpochoerus (Mammalia: Suidae) from the Pliocene of Central Afar, Ethiopia: Its taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships. Journal of mammalian evolution, 20(2): 115–127. doi: 10.1007/s10914-012-9207-0 reference page