Suidae is a family of artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs, or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domestic pigs and wild boars separately), classified into between four and eight genera. Within this family, the genus Sus includes the domestic pig, Sus scrofa domesticus or Sus domesticus, and many species of wild pig from Europe to the Pacific. Other genera include babirusas and warthogs. All suids, or swine, are native to the Old World, ranging across Afro-Eurasia.
The earliest fossil suids date from the Oligocene epoch in Asia, and their descendants reached Europe during the Miocene. Several fossil species are known and show adaptations to a wide range of different diets, from strict herbivory to possible carrion-eating (in Tetraconodontinae).
Physical characteristics
Suids belong to the order Artiodactyla, and are generally regarded as the living members of that order most similar to the ancestral form. Unlike most other members of the order, they have four hooves on each foot, although they walk only on the middle two digits, with the others staying clear of the ground. They also have a simple stomach, rather than the more complex ruminant stomach found in most other artiodactyl families.
They are small to medium animals, varying in size from in length, and in weight in the case of the pygmy hog, to and in the giant forest hog. They have large heads and short necks, with relatively small eyes and prominent ears. Their heads have a distinctive snout, ending in a disc-shaped nose. Suids typically have a bristly coat, and a short tail ending in a tassle. The males possess a corkscrew-shaped penis, which fits into a similarly shaped groove in the female's cervix.
Suids have a well-developed sense of hearing, and are vocal animals, communicating with a series of grunts, squeals, and similar sounds. They also have an acute sense of smell. Many species are omnivorous, eating grass, leaves, roots, insects, worms, and even frogs or mice. Other species are more selective and purely herbivorous.
{| class="wikitable"
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! Image !! Genus !! Living species
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|175px||Sus – pigs ||
- Sus ahoenobarbus – Palawan bearded pig
- Sus barbatus – Bornean bearded pig
- Sus cebifrons – Visayan warty pig
- Sus celebensis – Sulawesi warty pig
- Sus oliveri – Mindoro warty pig
- Sus philippensis – Philippine warty pig
- Sus scrofa – wild boar
- Sus scrofa domesticus – domestic pig (sometimes treated as a full species, S. domestica)
- Sus verrucosus – Javan warty pig
|-
|175px||Porcula ||
- Porcula salvania – pygmy hog
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|175px||Hylochoerus ||
- Hylochoerus meinertzhageni – giant forest hog
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|175px||Potamochoerus ||
- Potamochoerus larvatus – bushpig
- Potamochoerus porcus – red river hog
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|175px||Phacochoerus – warthog ||
- Phacochoerus africanus – common warthog
- Phacochoerus aethiopicus – desert warthog
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|175px||Babyrousa – babirusa ||
- Babyrousa babyrussa – Moluccan babirusa
- Babyrousa bolabatuensis – Bola Batu babirusa
- Babyrousa celebensis – North Sulawesi babirusa
- Babyrousa togeanensis – Togian babirusa
|-
|}
Phylogeny
Cladogram of Suidae. Mikko's Phylogeny Archive (Based is McKenna & Bell, 1997, Liu, 2003 и Harris & Liu, 2007):