The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a

peccary Peccaries (also javelinas or skunk pigs) are pig-like ungulates of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. Peccari ...

, a species of

artiodactyl Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other t ...

(even-toed)

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family Tayassuidae found in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

, Central, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It is the only member of the genus ''Dicotyles''. They are commonly referred to as ''javelina, saíno'', ''taitetu'', or ''báquiro'', although these terms are also used to describe other species in the family. The species is also known as the musk hog. In Trinidad, it is colloquially known as ''quenk''.

Taxonomy

Although somewhat related to true Old World pigs, and frequently referred to as a pig, this species and the other peccaries are no longer classified in the pig family,

Suidae Suidae is a family (biology), family of Even-toed ungulate, artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs, or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 Extant taxon, extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domes ...

. Although formerly classified in the genus ''Pecari'', studies in 2020 placed them in the genus ''Dicotyles'', based on an unequivocal type-species selection; these studies have been accepted by the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

. Currently, the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

still places them in the genus ''Pecari''.

Description

The collared peccary stands around tall at the shoulder and is about long. It weighs between . The

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

is: 2/3,1/1,3/3,3/3. The collared peccary has small tusks that point toward the ground when the animal is upright. It has slender legs with a robust or stocky body. The tail is often hidden in the coarse fur of the peccary.

Range and habitat

The collared peccary is widespread throughout much of the tropical and subtropical

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, ranging from the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

to northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. They were reintroduced to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in 2017, after 100 years of

extirpation Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with extinction, global extinctions. Local extinctions ...

there. The only

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island where it is native, however, is

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. Until fairly recently, it was also present on the nearby island of

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

, but is now exceedingly rare (if not extirpated) due to

overhunting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

by humans. An adaptable species, it inhabits

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

s, xeric shrublands, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, shrublands, flooded grasslands and savannas,

tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-roun ...

, and several other habitats; it is also present in habitats shared by humans, merely requiring sufficient cover. Peccaries can be found in

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and agricultural land throughout their range, where they consume garden plants. Notable populations are known to exist in the

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Phoenix and

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Fossil record

Due to the lack of fossil material or even specimens from archeological sites, it was assumed that javelinas only recently crossed into the US from further south by way of Mexico, being previously excluded from the region by competition with the now-extinct flat-headed peccary (''Platygonus compressus'') and long-nosed peccary (''Mylohyus nasutus''). The first records of the species in its US range are from 18th-century Jesuit missions, and no evidence of remains is known from sites prior to 1700. However, in 2009, a fossil jaw of this species was described from

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, proving that at some point in the late Pleistocene the species had already inhabited part of the Southern US and coexisted with the other two peccary species. The spread of javelinas throughout the Southwest may have been due to the overgrazing of native grasslands by livestock, leading to their replacement by

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

, which are more desirable habitat for javelinas. The javelina is also known from fossils from Toca da Barriguda in Bahia, Brazil.

Diet

Collared peccaries are often classified as herbivores. They normally feed on

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

beans, fruits, berries, seeds, roots,

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

palm nut Palm nut can refer to: * The fruit of the oil palm ('' Elaeis'') tree * The fruit or seed of any palm tree (''Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monoco ...

s, grasses, other green vegetation,

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

, and insects. However, they will also eat eggs, snakes, fish, frogs, lizards, dead birds, and rodents if the opportunity presents itself. Despite all this supplementary diet, the main dietary components of this species are

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

s and prickly pears. In areas inhabited by humans, they also consume cultivated crops and

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s, such as

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

Predators

The main predators of the collared peccary are

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

s (''Puma concolor''), Mexican wolves (''Canis lupus baileyi''),

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

s (''Canis latrans''),

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

s (''Panthera onca''), and

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

s (''Lynx rufus'').

Behavior

Collared peccaries are diurnal creatures that live in groups of up to 50 individuals, averaging between six and nine animals. They sleep in burrows (often under bushes or larger systems of tree roots), but sometimes can be found in caves, abandoned mines, old desert tunnels, or among logs, felled trees and abandoned timber. However, collared peccaries are not completely diurnal. In central Arizona, they are often more active at night, and less so in the heat of the daytime. Although they usually ignore humans, they will react if they feel threatened. They defend themselves with their tusks. A collared peccary can release a strong musk or give a sharp bark if it is alarmed. Amazonian peoples (including the Shipibos) sometimes raise and tame juvenile collared peccaries, if they are encountered. Peccary will also rub their scent onto rocks and tree stumps to mark their territory, and rub the scent on each other to help with identification.

The "giant peccary"

The giant peccary (described as ''Pecari maximus'') was a purported fourth species of

, first reported to have been seen in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 2000 by Dutch naturalist

Marc van Roosmalen Marc van Roosmalen (born 23 June 1947) is a Dutch-Brazilian primatologist. He was elected as one of the "Heroes for the Planet" by ''Time'' magazine in 2000. His research has led to the identification of several new monkey species, as well as o ...

. In 2003 German

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

filmmaker Lothar Frenz filmed a group and gathered a skull which later served as the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

(INPA4272). It had been known locally as '' caitetú-mundè'', which Roosmalen ''et al''. state the locals claimed was

Tupí Tupí, also known as ''formatge de tupí'', is a fermented cheese of a certain area of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees made from cows' or sheep's milk. It is a cheese traditionally prepared in the mountainous Pallars region, as well as in the Cerdan ...

and meant "the collared peccary that is bigger and goes in pairs", as opposed to ''caitetú-de-bando'', "the collared peccary that goes in herds". It was formally described in 2007,Roosmalen, M.G.M.; Frenz, L.; Hooft, W.F. van; Iongh, H.H. de; Leirs, H. 2007
''A New Species of Living Peccary (Mammalia: Tayassuidae) from the Brazilian Amazon.''
Bonner zoologische Beiträge 55(2): 105–112. but the scientific evidence for its species status was quickly questioned,Gongora, J., Taber, A., Keuroghlian, A., Altrichter, M., Bodmer, R.E., Mayor, P., Moran, C., Damayanti, C.S., González S. (2007).
Re-examining the evidence for a ‘new’ peccary species, ''Pecari maximus'', from the Brazilian Amazon
'' Newsletter of the Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos Specialist Group of the IUCN/SSC. 7(2): 19–26. which also was one of the reasons for its initial evaluation as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

in 2008. A review in 2011 moved the giant peccary into synonymy with the collared peccary (''P. tajacu''),Gongora, J., Biondo, C., Cooper, J.D., Taber, A., Keuroghlian, A., Altrichter, M., Ferreira do Nascimento, F., Chong, A.Y., Miyaki, C.Y., Bodmer, R., Mayor, P. and González, S. (2011).
Revisiting the species status of ''Pecari maximus'' van Roosmalen et al., 2007 (Mammalia) from the Brazilian Amazon
'' Bonn Zoological Bulletin 60(1): 95-101. which was followed by the

the same year. The reported range of the giant peccary encompasses the south-central

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

between the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and the Tapajós Rivers and northern

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

.Moravec, J., & Böhme, W. (2009).
Second Find of the Recently Discovered Amazonian Giant Peccary, ''Pecari maximus'' (Mammalia: Tayassuidae) van Roosmalen et al., 2007: First Record from Bolivia
.'' Bonner zoologische Beiträge 56(1-2): 49-54. It is restricted to ''terra firme'' forest, which is forest that does not flood annually. Unlike other peccaries in its range, the giant peccary was reported to mainly occur in pairs or small family groups. According to its original description, the giant peccary is larger, longer-legged, and proportionally smaller-headed than the only other member of the genus, the collared peccary. Compared to most individuals of the

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

populations of the collared peccary, the giant peccary also had thinner fur that is grizzled in brown and white, blacker legs, and a relatively faint collar. Five skins of the giant peccary had a total length of , while local hunters have estimated a weight of . Based on a

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...

study, the collared and the giant peccaries were estimated to have diverged 1.0–1.2 million years ago, but these results were later questioned due to the small

sample size Sample size determination or estimation is the act of choosing the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make inferences abo ...

, low bootstrap support, and the absence of

nDNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It ...

and

cytogenetic Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

results. In 2011, a review noted that the measurements provided in the initial description were within those generally recognized for the collared peccary, and the behaviors supposedly unique to the giant peccary are also known from the collared peccary. They also provided new genetic evidence showing that collared peccaries from South America form a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

that includes the giant peccary (without it the clade is

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

). The major genetic split within the collared peccary is between a clade comprising North and Central American specimens, and a clade comprising South American specimens (the presumed contact zone is in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, which has both clades). Furthermore, extensive infraspecific variations (both individual and locality-based) are known in the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

of the collared peccary.

Gallery

File:Collared peccaries as seen by a fixed camera in Scottsdale, Arizona.webm, A herd seen by a fixed camera in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

File:Running Javelina.jpg, Running collared peccary at

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topograph ...

File:Mother javelina and baby.jpg, Mother and juvenile in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

File:Ancestral Pueblo, Roosevelt black on white javelina effigy canteen, 1250-1300 CE, Heard Museum.JPG, A Pueblo drinking vessel File:Ogrličasti pekari u Zagrebu.jpg, A herd of collared peccaries in Zagreb Zoo

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Smithsonian Institution - North American Mammals: ''Pecari tajacu''

Arizona Game and Fish Department – Living With Javelina
{{Authority control Articles containing video clips Fauna of the Amazon Fauna of the Pantanal Fauna of the Sierra Madre Occidental Fauna of the Sonoran Desert Fauna of the Southwestern United States Mammals described in 1758 Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Mexico Mammals of Paraguay Mammals of Peru Mammals of Suriname Mammals of the Caribbean Mammals of the United States Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago Mammals of Venezuela Peccaries Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Ungulates of Central America