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SWINE

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 237 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SWINE , a name properly applicable to the domesticated See also:

pig (See also:Sus scrofa), but also including its See also:wild relatives. As stated in the See also:article See also:ARTIODACTYLA, these animals typify the See also:family Suidae, which, with the Hippopotamidae, constitute the See also:section See also:Suina, a See also:group of equal See also:rank with the See also:Pecora. The Suidae are divisible into the true Old See also:World swine (Suinae) and the See also:American peccaries (Dicotylinae). Of the former the leading characteristics are as follows: an elongated See also:mobile snout, with an See also:expanded, truncated, nearly naked, See also:flat, See also:oval terminal See also:surface in which the nostrils are placed. Feet narrow, with four completely See also:developed toes on each. Hoofs of the two See also:middle toes with their contiguous surfaces flattened. The See also:outer toes not reaching to the ground in the See also:ordinary walking position. See also:Teeth variable in number, owing to the suppression in some forms of an upper incisor and one or more premolars. In the typical genus Sus, as exemplified by domesticated pigs (see PIG) and the wild See also:boar (see See also:Bona), the dentition is p.1, m.i; See also:total 44; the upper incisors diminishing rapidly in See also:size from the first to the third, and the See also:lower incisors See also:long, narrow, closely approximated, and almost See also:horizontal in position, their tips inclining towards the middle See also:line, the second slightly larger than the first, the third much smaller. The tusks or canines are strongly developed, with persistent roots and a partial See also:enamel covering, those of the upper See also:jaw not having the usual downward direction, but curving out-wards, upwards and finally inwards, while those of the lower jaw are directed upwards and outwards with a See also:gentle backward See also:curve, their hinder edges working and wearing against the front edges of the upper pair. The tusks appear externally to the mouth, the See also:form of the upper See also:lip being modified to allow of their protrusion, but are much less developed in See also:females than in See also:males. The teeth of the molar See also:series gradually increase in size and complexity from first to last, and are arranged in contiguous series, except that the first lower premolar is separated by an See also:interval from the second.

First and second upper premolars with compressed crowns and two roots; and the third and See also:

fourth with an inner See also:lobe of the See also:crown, and an additional pair of roots. The first and second molars have quadrate crowns, with four See also:principal obtuse conical cusps, around which numerous See also:accessory cusps are clustered. The crown of the third molar is nearly as long as those of the first and second together, having, in addition to the four principal lobes, a large posterior See also:heel, composed of clustered conical cusps, and sup-ported by additional roots. The lower molars resemble generally those of the upper jaw, but are narrower. See also:Milk dentition : c. 1, m. s ; total 28—the first permanent premolar having no predecessor. The third incisor in both upper and lower jaws is large, developed before the others, with much the size, form and direction of the canine. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13-14, L. 6, S. 4, Ca.

20-24. The hairy covering of the See also:

body varies under different conditions of See also:climate, but when best developed, as in the See also:European wild boar, consists of long stiff bristles, abundant on the back and sides, and of a See also:close softer See also:curling under-coat. All the typical swine are further characterized by the fact that the See also:young are longitudinally striped with bands of dark See also:brown and some paler tint; this striped coat disappearing in the course of a few months. On the other See also:hand, this See also:peculiar marking is rarely seen in domestic pigs in any See also:part of the world, although it has been occasionally observed. It is stated by See also:Darwin that the pigs which have run wild in See also:Jamaica and New See also:Granada have resumed this aboriginal See also:character, and produce longitudinally striped young; these being the descendants of domestic animals introduced from See also:Europe since the See also:Spanish See also:conquest, as before that See also:time there were no true pigs in the New World. Another character by which the European domesticated pig differs from any of the wild See also:species is the See also:concave outline of the frontal region of the See also:skull. In the wild boar (Sus scrofa) the upper or hinder surface of the lower tusk, which has no enamel, inclines obliquely outwards and is broader than the outer surface. The distributional See also:area of this species includes See also:northern See also:Africa, Europe and central and northern See also:Asia as far as Amurland. Whether the Nubian S. senarensis is really distinct, seems doubtful. To the same group belongs the See also:Indian S. cristatus, distinguished by the more pronounced development of the See also:crest of long hairs on the nape of the See also:neck, and closely related to the next species. The third species is the banded pig S. vittatus, of See also:Sumatra, characterized by having a broad reddish or whitish See also:band See also:running from the middle of the snout along the upper lip to disappear on the See also:side of the neck; the skull being See also:short and high, with the facial portion of the lachrymal See also:bone small. Races of this type are also met with in See also:Java, See also:Cochin-See also:China and See also:Formosa; the pig from the latter See also:island having been named S. tdivanus.

Near akin is the See also:

Japanese S. leucomystax and the small Andamanese S. andamanensis. Whether the New See also:Guinea S. papuensis and S. See also:niger are really indigenous members of this group or modified descendants of European tame pigs is doubtful; although the See also:general character of the Papuan See also:fauna supports the See also:idea that they are introduced. A second group is typified by the warty pig, S. verrucosus, of Java, in which the hinder or upper unenamelled surface of the lower tusk is narrower than the outer, concave, and set nearly in the long See also:axis of the skull. The skull itself is elongated, with comparatively See also:simple and See also:primitive molars, the latter being relatively short. There are also three small warts on each side of the See also:face, the largest of which is just below the See also:eye and carries long bristles. The small S. celebensis of See also:Celebes and S. philippinensis are probably only varieties of this species. The bearded pig S. barbatus (=longirostris) of See also:Borneo is a very distinct member of this group, distinguished by the See also:great See also:elongation of the skull, and the presence of a tuft of long See also:hair near the muzzle. In Sumatra it is represented by the sub-species S. b. oi, and in See also:south-See also:west Borneo by S. b. gargantua. Some doubt exists whether the See also:pygmy hog of the See also:Nepal Terai, which is not much larger than a See also:hare, is best regarded as a member of the typical genus, under the name of Sus salvanius or as representing a genus by itself, with the See also:title Porcula salvania. Similar doubts have also been entertained with regard to the See also:African See also:bush-pigs or See also:river-hogs, but from See also:geographical considerations alone these are but regarded as representing a See also:separate genus, Potamochoerus, although they are nearly allied to the verrucosus group of Sus. They are specially distinguished by the great development of the anterior See also:half of the zygomatic See also:arch of the skull, and by the presence in the boars of a horny protuberance of the skin in front of each eye, which overlies a tuberosity on the nasal bone; the molars are also small and simple, and the anterior premolars are generally See also:shed at an See also:early See also:stage of See also:life. The group is represented in See also:Madagascar, as well as in Africa south of the See also:Sahara.

(See RIVER-HOG.) The recently discovered Hylochoerus of the See also:

equatorial See also:forest-districts of Africa comes nearest to the under-mentioned See also:wart-hogs, but the skull is of a much less specialized type, while the upper tusks are much smaller although they have the same general curvature and direction, and the cheek-teeth lack the peculiar characteristics of those of Phacochoerus, although they See also:present a certain approximation thereto. On the other hand, resemblance to that genus is shown by the reduction of the upper incisors to a single pair. The skin is clothed with a thick coat of coarse See also:black hair of a bristly nature, but there are a few whitish hairs on the face and in the See also:groin. In the African wart-hogs (Phacochoerus), which take their name from the large warty lobes projecting from each side of the face, the teeth are remarkably modified. The milk-dentition, and even the early See also:condition of the permanent dentition, is formed on the same general type as that of Sus, except that certain teeth are absent, the See also:formula being pi, mg, total 34; but as See also:age advances all the teeth have a tendency to disappear, except the canines and the posterior molars, but these, which in some cases are the only teeth See also:left in the jaws, attain an extraordinary development. The upper canines especially are of great size, and curve outwards, forwards and upwards. Their enamel covering is confined to the See also:apex, and soon wears away. The lower canines are much more slender, but follow the same curve; except on the posterior surface, their crowns are covered with enamel ; both pairs of canines are large in the two sexes. The third or last molar tooth of both jaws is of great size, and presents a structure at first sight unlike that of any other mammal, being composed of numerous (22-25) parallel cylinders or columns, each with pulp-cavity, dentine and enamel-covering, and packed together with See also:cement. Examination will, however, show that a modification similar to that which has transformed the comparatively simple molar tooth of the See also:mastodon into the extremely complex grinder of the Indian See also:elephant has served to See also:change the tooth of the See also:common pig into that of Phacochoerus. The tubercles which cluster over the surface of the crown of the common pig are elongated and See also:drawn out into the columns of the wart-hog, as the See also:low transverse ridges of the mastodon's tooth become the See also:leaf-like plates of the elephant's molar. (See WART-HOG.) The last existing representative of the Suidae is the See also:babirusa of Celebes, alone representing the genus of the same name, and readily distinguished by the extraordinary size and form of the tusks of the old males.

(For the characteristics of this See also:

animal see BAB'RUSA.) See also:Extinct Swine.—Species of Sus are met with in See also:Pliocene strata of Europe and Asia, the Lower Pliocene S. erymanthius of See also:Greece and S. giganteus and S. titan of See also:India being enormous animals; the lastwith comparatively simple molars. The European S. palaeochoerus and the Indian S. hysudricus are smaller forms; the first exhibiting signs of relationship with Potamochoerus. In India also occurs Hippohyus distinguished by the extremely complicated structure of its molars. In the European See also:Miocene we have Hyotherium and Palaeochoerus, and in the Upper Oligocene Propalaeochoerus, which have square molars without any tendency to a selenodont structure in their cusps. Curiously enough a selenodont type is, however, apparent in those of the imperfectly known See also:Egyptian Geniohyus of the Upper See also:Eocene, the earliest species which can be included in the family. Even in this the forward direction of the lower incisors is noticeable. Choeropotamus is a European Oligocene genus with bunodont molars which show a conspicuous basal cingulum in the lower dentition; the first premolar is absent. In the European Miocene Listriodon, which also occurs in the Indian See also:Tertiaries, the molars have a pair of transverse ridges, like those of the proboscidean See also:Dinotherium (q.v.); but the genus is believed to be related to the Oligocene Doliochoerus and Choerotherium, in which these teeth show a more normal type of structure. For the genus Elotherium, of the Lower Miocene and Upper Oligocene of both hemispheres, which is often placed next the Suidae, see ARTIODACTYLA. The American Dicotylinae are noticed under See also:PECCARY. (R.

End of Article: SWINE

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