page_title: Peccary
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Peccary / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: Wild boar and white-lipped peccary skulls, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden
context_page_description: A peccary is a medium-sized pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae. They are found throughout Central and South America and in the southwestern area of North America. They usually measure between 90 and 130 cm in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about 20 to 40 kg. They are often confused with the pig family that originated in Afro-Eurasia, since some domestic pigs brought by European settlers escaped and their descendants are now feral "razorback" hogs in many parts of the US.
  Peccaries are social creatures living in large or small herds. They eat roots, grubs, and a variety of foods. They can identify each other by their strong odors. A group of Javelinas that travel and live together is called a "squadron". A squadron of Javelinas averages between six and nine members.
  The last common ancestors of peccaries and other even-toed ungulates were vaguely piglike animals that lived over 50 million years ago. Peccaries evolved in Europe about 30 million years ago and spread across much of the world. In the Old World, peccaries went extinct, but they survived in North America. About three million years ago, peccaries spread into South America.
context_section_description: 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, although it has three chambers, and is more complex than those of pigs.
  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. Pigs and peccaries can be differentiated by the shape of the canine tooth, or tusk. In European pigs, the tusk is long and curves around on itself, whereas in peccaries, the tusk is short and straight. The jaws and tusks of peccaries are adapted for crushing hard seeds and slicing into plant roots, and they also use their tusks for defending against predators. The dental formula for peccaries is: 
  By rubbing the tusks together, they can make a chattering noise that warns potential predators to stay away. In recent years in northwestern Bolivia near Madidi National Park, large groups of peccaries have been reported to have seriously injured or killed people.
  Peccaries are social animals, and often form 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 recently discovered giant peccary (Pecari maximus) of Brazil appears to be less social, primarily living in pairs. Peccaries rely on their social structure to defend territory, protect against predators, regulate temperature, and interact socially.
  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 30 to 280 hectares (75 to 700 acres). 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".
caption: Skulls of wild boar (left) and white-lipped peccary (right): Note how the upper canines of the peccary point downwards.
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