ioi2 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



Madagascar, belong, however, to a group distinct from that including the rest. 

 Domesticated pigs have been turned loose in many parts of the world, such as 

 America, the West Indies, and New Zealand, where they have formed feral races 

 tending to revert more or less completely to the wild type, some even producing 

 striped young. 



Although some of the species are markedly distinct, the pigs 

 (exclusive of those from Southern Africa) are an exceedingly puzzling 

 group, scarcely any two zoologists being in accord as to the number of existing 

 species. Some of the most important distinctive features are afforded by the cheek- 

 teeth; but as such differences, after all, are but slight, and difficult to recognize, we 

 shall, in the main, confine our attention to some of the better-known species, such as 

 those of Europe and India. 



The type of the genus is the European wild pig, or wild boar (Sus 

 W'ldB scrofa), ranging over Europe, Northern Africa, and part of Western 

 and Central Asia. In Asia, it is believed by Mr. Blanford to extend 

 into Mesopotamia, Persia, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan, while northward it ranges 

 to the neighborhood of Yarkand. It was formerly abundant throughout the British 

 Islands, as is attested not only by historical evidence, but also by the abundance of 

 its remains in the peat mosses and fens; and boar hunting was a favorite pursuit of 

 our ancestors. Although the exact date of the extermination of wild boars from 

 the British Islands does not appear to be ascertained, Mr. J. E. Harting has shown 

 that they still existed in Oxfordshire in the year 1339, in Suffolk in 1572, and in 

 Chartley forest, Staffordshire, as late as 1593; and it is quite probable that in 

 Scotland, and perhaps in Ireland also, they may have lingered till a still more 

 recent date. In many parts of the Continent, and especially in the Black Forest, 

 wild boars are still abundant. 



The Indian wild boar (S. cristatus] is so closely allied to its Euro- 

 Indian Wild 



Boar P ean cousln tnat Jt 1S frequently regarded as specifically inseparable. 



It is, however, a somewhat taller animal, with a thinner coat of hair 

 and no under-fur; but it is more especially distinguished by the presence of a crest 

 or mane of long black bristles running from the nape of the neck along the back, 

 and by the more complex structure and larger size of the last molar tooth in each 

 jaw. As regards the latter characteristic, it may be observed that in the European 

 wild boar the hindmost of the three lobes constituting the last lower molar, is not 

 more complex than in the specimen figured on p. ion; but in the Indian species, 

 and more especially in the males, this lobe (the one on the left of the figure) is com- 

 plicated by the addition of one or more extra tubercles to the hinder extremity, 

 thus making the whole of this tooth considerably longer and more complex. Analo- 

 gous but less strongly-marked differences may be observed between the correspond- 

 ing upper teeth of the two species. The usual height of the Indian wild boar varies 

 from thirty to forty inches at the shoulder, but it is stated that one specimen has 

 been killed standing upward of forty-three and one-half inches; while the weight 

 ranges from two hundred to considerably over three hundred pounds. When ex- 

 tracted from the jaw, the lower tusk of a fine boar will measure somewhere about 

 eight or nine inches in length; but specimens measuring nine and one-fourth and ten 



