Warthog | |
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Male common warthog Phacochoerus africanus Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Suidae |
Tribe: | Phacochoerini |
Genus: | Phacochoerus F. Cuvier, 1826 |
Type species | |
Aper aethiopicus [1] Pallas, 1766 | |
Species | |
Synonyms | |
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Phacochoerus is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced wart-hog). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly considered conspecific under the scientific name Phacochoerus aethiopicus, but today this is limited to the desert warthog, while the best-known and most widespread species, the common warthog (or simply warthog), is Phacochoerus africanus. [2]
Although covered in bristly hairs, a warthog's body and head appear largely bare, from a distance, with only a crest of hair along the back and the tufts on the face and tail being obvious. The English name "wart"-hog refers to their facial wattles, which are particularly distinct in males. The males also have very prominent tusks, which reach a length of 10 to 25 inches (25 to 64 centimetres); females' tusks are always smaller. [3] They are largely herbivorous, but, like most suids, opportunistically eat invertebrates or small animals, even scavenging on carrion. [4] While both species remain fairly common and widespread, and considered to be of Least Concern by the IUCN, the nominate subspecies of desert warthog, commonly known as the Cape warthog (P. a. aethiopicus) was extinct by around 1865. [5]
The genus Phacochoerus contains two species. The two species emerged from ecological barriers. [6] P. africanus were found with a lack of upper incisors, while P. aethiopicus were found with a full set. [6]
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
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Common warthog | Phacochoerus africanus (Gmelin, 1788) Four subspecies
| Widespread in the savannah of Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia down to South Africa, absent from heavily forested or desert areas. | Size: A head-and-body length ranging from 0.9 to 1.5 m (2 ft 11 in to 4 ft 11 in), and shoulder height from 63.5 to 85 cm (25.0 to 33.5 in). Females, at 45 to 75 kg (99 to 165 lb), are smaller and lighter than males, at 60 to 150 kg (130 to 330 lb). [7] Habitat: Diet: | LC |
Desert warthog | Phacochoerus aethiopicus (Pallas, 1766) | Northern Kenya and Somalia, and possibly Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. | Size: Average length of 125 centimetres (49 in) and weight of 75 kilograms (165 lb) with males being larger than females. [9] Habitat: Diet: | LC |
The common warthog is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P. aethiopicus, but today that scientific name is restricted to the desert warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia.
Erythrocebus is a genus of Old World monkey. All three species in this genus are found in Africa, and are known as patas monkeys. While previously considered a monotypic genus containing just E. patas, a 2017 review argued that, based on morphological evidence and heavy geographic separation between taxa, E. patas should be split back into distinct species as recognised in the 19th century.
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The red river hog or bushpig is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarely seen away from rainforests, and generally prefers areas near rivers or swamps.
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The giant forest hog, the only member of its genus (Hylochoerus), is native to wooded habitats in Africa and is one of the largest wild members of the pig family, Suidae, along with a few subspecies of the wild boar. It was first described in 1904. The specific name honours Richard Meinertzhagen, who shot the type specimen in Kenya and had it shipped to the Natural History Museum in England.
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Boehm's gerbil is a species of rodent found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, and arable land. This is a common species with a wide distribution which faces no obvious threats, so in 2004 the International Union for Conservation of Nature rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
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Sclater's golden mole is a species of mammal in the family Chrysochloridae. It is found in Lesotho and South Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry and high-altitude shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, and urban areas. This species is locally common, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
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The desert warthog is a species of even-toed ungulate in the pig family (Suidae), found in northern Kenya and Somalia, and possibly Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. This is the range of the extant subspecies, commonly known as the Somali warthog. Another subspecies, commonly known as the Cape warthog, became extinct around 1865, but formerly occurred in South Africa.
Suinae is a subfamily of artiodactyl mammals that includes several of the extant members of Suidae and their closest relatives – the domestic pig and related species, such as babirusas. Several extinct species within the Suidae are classified in subfamilies other than Suinae. However, the classification of the extinct members of the Suoidea – the larger group that includes the Suidae, the peccary family (Tayassuidae), and related extinct species – is controversial, and different classifications vary in the number of subfamilies within Suidae and their contents. Some classifications, such as the one proposed by paleontologist Jan van der Made in 2010, even exclude from Suinae some extant taxa of Suidae, placing these excluded taxa in other subfamilies.
A warthog is a wild member in the Phacochoerus genus that lives in Africa. It consists of 2 species: