Sus (genus)
| Pig | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Subclass: | |
| Infraclass: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | Sus Linnaeus, 1758
|
| Species | |
|
Sus barbatus | |
Template:Fix bunching Template:Fix bunching Template:Fix bunching Pigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig (Sus domestica) in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar. Swine is a collective noun generally used to describe pigs as a group rather than an individual, however it may often be implied in a pejorative manner to any living being expressing pig-like behavior.
With around 2 billion on the planet, domestic pigs are also by far the most numerous pig species.[1][2] Pigs are omnivores, and despite their reputation for gluttony, they are generally social and intelligent animals.
Description and behavior
A pig has a snout for a nose, small eyes, and a small tail, which may be curly, kinked, or straight. It has a thick body, short legs, and coarse hair. There are four toes on each foot, with the two large middle toes used for walking.[3]
Breeding occurs throughout the year in the tropics, but births peak around rainy seasons. A female pig can become pregnant at around 8–18 months of age. She will then go into estrus every 21 days if not bred. Male pigs become sexually active at 8–10 months of age.[4] A litter of piglets typically contains between 6 and 12 piglets.[5] After the young are weaned, two or more families may come together until the next mating season.
Pigs do not have functional sweat glands,[6] so pigs cool themselves using water or mud during hot weather. They also use mud as a form of sunscreen to protect their skin from sunburn. Mud also provides protection against flies and parasites.[5]
Domesticated pigs are commonly raised as livestock by farmers for meat (called pork), as well as for leather. Their bristly hairs are also used for brushes. Some breeds of pig, such as the Asian pot-bellied pig, are kept as pets.
Diet and foraging
Pigs are omnivores, which means that they consume both plants and animals. Pigs will scavenge and have been known to eat any kind of food, including dead insects, worms, tree bark, rotting carcasses, garbage, and even their own feces and piglets. It is estimated that 50% of piglet fatality is due to the mother sow attacking or unintentionally crushing the newborn pre-weaned animals.[citation needed] In the wild, they are foraging animals, primarily eating leaves, grasses, roots, fruits and flowers.
A typical pig has a large head with a long snout which is strengthened by a special prenasal bone and by a disk of cartilage in the tip.[4] The snout is used to dig into the soil to find food and is a very sensitive sense organ.
Pigs have a full set of 44 teeth. The canine teeth, called tusks, grow continuously and are sharpened by the lowers and uppers rubbing against each other.[4]
Pigs that are allowed to forage may be watched by swineherds. Because of their foraging abilities and excellent sense of smell, they are used to find truffles in many European countries.
Species
- Palawan Bearded Pig (Sus ahoenobarbus)[7]
- Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus)[8]
- Indo-Chinese (or Vietnam) Warty Pig (Sus bucculentus).[9]
- Visayan Warty Pig (Sus cebifrons)[10]
- Celebes (or Sulawesi) Warty Pig (Sus celebensis)[11]
- †Sus falconeri
- †Sus hysudricus
- Oliver's (or Mindoro) Warty Pig (Sus oliveri)[12]
- Philippine Warty Pig (Sus philippensis)[13]
- Wild boar (Sus scrofa)[14]
- Domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica)[14]
- Iberian Pig or Black Iberian Pig
- Black Balearic Pig
- Black Canary Island Pig
- Domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica)[14]
- †Sus strozzi
- Java Warty Pig (Sus verrucosus)[15]
The Pygmy Hog is now in the monotypic genus Porcula again.[16]
Domestic pigs
Pigs have been domesticated since ancient times in the Old World. Archeological evidence suggests that pigs were being managed in the wild in a way similar to the way they are managed by some modern New Guineans from wild boar as early as 13,000–12,700 BP in the Near East in the Tigris Basin.[17] Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BP in Cyprus that must have been introduced from the mainland which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then.[18] A separate domestication also occurred in China.[19].
In India pigs have been domesticated since a long time mostly in Goa and some rural areas for pig toilets. Though ecologically logical as well as economical pig toilets are waning in popularity as use of septic tanks and/or sewerage system is increasing in rural areas.
Pigs were brought to southeastern North America from Europe by Hernando de Soto and other early Spanish explorers. Pigs are particularly valued in China and on certain oceanic islands, where their self-sufficiency allows them to be turned loose, although the practice is not without its drawbacks (see Environmental impact).
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) is usually given the scientific name Sus scrofa, although some authors call it S. domesticus, reserving S. scrofa for the wild boar. It was domesticated approximately 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Their coats are coarse and bristly. They are born brownish colored and tend to turn more grayish colored with age. The upper canines form sharp distinctive tusks that curve outward and upward. Compared to other artiodactyles, their head is relatively long, pointed, and free of warts. Their head and body length ranges from 0.9 to 1.8 m and they can weigh between 50 and 350 kg.[citation needed]
Pigs are intelligent[20] and can be trained to perform numerous tasks and tricks[21]. Recently, they have enjoyed a measure of popularity as house pets, particularly the dwarf breeds.
Cultural references to pigs
Pigs are frequently referenced in culture and are a popular topic for idioms and famous quotes.
Pig meat,ok,camal meat,not ok.Camal meat is life threatering.It causes urine that burns and really explosive diaria.It also causes really stinky gas that if you light a match in the same room you passed gas,it will explode.So please,do not eat camal meat.
Environmental impacts
Domestic pigs that have escaped from farms or were allowed to forage in the wild, and in some cases wild boars which were introduced as prey for hunting, have given rise to large populations of feral pigs in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and other areas where pigs are not native. Accidental or deliberate releases of pigs into countries or environments where they are an alien species have caused extensive environmental change. Their omnivorous diet, aggressive behaviour, and their feeding method of rooting in the ground all combine to severely alter ecosystems unused to pigs. Pigs will even eat small animals and destroy nests of ground nesting birds.[4] The Invasive Species Specialist Group lists feral pigs on the list of the world's 100 worst invasive species and says:[22]
Feral pigs like other introduced mammals are major drivers of extinction and ecosystem change. They have been introduced into many parts of the world, and will damage crops and home gardens as well as potentially spreading disease. They uproot large areas of land, eliminating native vegetation and spreading weeds. This results in habitat alteration, a change in plant succession and composition and a decrease in native fauna dependent on the original habitat.
Health issues
Pigs can harbour a range of parasites and diseases that can be transmitted to humans. These include trichinosis, Taenia solium, cysticercosis, and brucellosis. Pigs are also known to host large concentrations of parasitic ascarid worms in their digestive tract.[23] The presence of these diseases and parasites is one reason pork meat should always be well cooked or cured before eating. Some religious groups that consider pork unclean refer to these issues as support for their views.[24]
Pigs are susceptible to bronchitis and pneumonia. They have small lungs in relation to body size; for this reason, bronchitis or pneumonia can kill a pig quickly.[25] There is concern that pigs may allow animal viruses such as influenza or Ebola Reston to infect humans more easily. Some strains of influenza are endemic in pigs (see Swine influenza), and pigs also can acquire human influenza.
Pigs can be aggressive and pig-induced injuries are relatively common in areas where pigs are reared or where they form part of the wild or feral fauna.[26]
See also
References
- ^ Production, Supply and Distribution Online Query, United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service
- ^ Swine Summary Selected Countries, United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, (total number is Production (Pig Crop) plus Total Beginning Stocks
- ^ Feral Pig / Hog / Pig / Wild Boar Hunting
- ^ a b c d ADW: Sus scrofa: Information
- ^ a b Pigs (2006)
- ^ Managing Heat Stress In Outdoor Pigs
- ^ Huet, 1888
- ^ Müller, 1838
- ^ Heude, 1892
- ^ Heude, 1888
- ^ Müller & Schlegel, 1843
- ^ Groves, 1997
- ^ Nehring, 1886
- ^ a b Linnaeus, 1758
- ^ Müller, 1840
- ^ Funk, Stephan M., Sunil Kumar Verma, Greger Larson, Kasturi Prasad, Lalji Singh, Goutam Narayan and John E. Fa (2007). The pygmy hog is a unique genus: 19th century taxonomists got it right first time round. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 45, Pages 427-436
- ^ Rosenberg M, Nesbitt R, Redding RW, Peasnall BL (1998). Hallan Cemi, pig husbandry, and post-Pleistocene adaptations along the Taurus-Zagros Arc (Turkey). Paleorient, 24(1):25–41.
- ^ Vigne JD, Zazzo A, Saliège JF, Poplin F, Guilaine J, Simmons A. (2009). Pre-Neolithic wild boar management and introduction to Cyprus more than 11,400 years ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 106:16135–16138. PMID 19706455 doi:10.1073/pnas.0905015106
- ^ Giuffra E, Kijas JM, Amarger V, Carlborg O, Jeon JT, Andersson L. (200). The origin of the domestic pig: independent domestication and subsequent introgression. Genetics. 154(4):1785-91. PMID 10747069
- ^ Broom, Donald M. (2009-11). "Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information". Animal Behaviour. 78 (5): 1037–1041. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.07.027.. ISSN 0003-3472. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
Mirror usage has been taken to indicate some degree of awareness in animals. ... When put in a pen with a mirror in it, young pigs made movements while apparently looking at their image. After 5 h spent with a mirror, the pigs were shown a familiar food bowl, visible in the mirror but hidden behind a solid barrier. Seven out of eight pigs found the food bowl in a mean of 23 s by going away from the mirror and around the barrier. ... To use information from a mirror and find a food bowl, each pig must have observed features of its surroundings, remembered these and its own actions, deduced relationships among observed and remembered features and acted accordingly. This ability indicates assessment awareness in pigs. The results may have some effects on the design of housing conditions for pigs and may lead to better pig welfare.
{{cite journal}}: Check|doi=value (help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Angier, Natalie (2009-11-09). "Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain". The New York Times. New York, New York, US: The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
They've found that pigs are among the quickest of animals to learn a new routine, and pigs can do a circus's worth of tricks: jump hoops, bow and stand, spin and make wordlike sounds on command, roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, play videogames with joysticks, and more.
{{cite news}}: Check|author-link=value (help); External link in|author-link= - ^ Ecology of Sus scrofa, Global Invasive Species Database, The Invasive Species Specialist Group
- ^ Pig Health
- ^ Marie Parsons. "Pigs in Ancient Egypt"
- ^ Pros and Cons of Potbellied Pigs
- ^ McClung, Robert M., "The New Book of Knowledge: Pigs"
External links
