sus. 561 



Height 28 to 36 inches at the shoulder ; according to Simson, one 

 of the largest boars he ever killed (in Bengal, where some are of 

 great size) was just under 38 inches high. Males are larger than 

 females. 



Basal length of a large boar's skull 13-75 inches, zygomatic 

 breadth 7'3. Weight of adults from about 200 to considerably 

 over 300 Ib. (4 maunds). The lower tusks in a large hog are 

 said to have measured 12 inches in length, including the portion 

 imbedded in the jaw, but they rarely exceed 9. 



Distribution. Throughout India,' Ceylon, and Burma; on the 

 Himalayas to a considerable elevation. Capt. Baldwin says he has 

 seen their tracks at 15,000 feet. 



Varieties. Blyth at one time divided the wild pigs of India into 

 3 species, distinguished by the form of the skull, and especially by 

 the breadth and convexity of the frontal plane in the parietal 

 region, the skull of the large Bengal type being broadest and most 

 convex, and a Ceylonese skull narrowest. There appears, however, 

 to be no constant distinction, although large skulls from the Gangetic 

 plain exhibit the peculiarities noticed by Blyth. The other characters 

 mentioned by him are not, I believe, peculiar to the Bengal race. 

 Some years ago I called attention (J. A. S. B. xxxvi, p. 197) to 

 the occurrence in forest and bush-jungle of whole herds of brown 

 pigs, and to my having seen a large solitary hog of the same colour, a 

 dull brown, quite different from the usual blackish tint. This was 

 on the Nerbudda, south-east of Indore ; but I have seen pigs of the 

 same colour in various parts of India, including, I think, Western 

 Bengal The same variation has been noticed by Forsyth. 



Sus cristatus is distinguished from the European wild boar, 

 S. scrofa, by its much more developed crest or mane, and by the 

 proportionally greater size and complexity of the last molar in 

 each jaw. The Indian pig is higher, and much more thinly covered 

 with hair. According to Jerdon the tail is more tufted and the 

 malar beard more marked, perhaps owing to the hair in general 

 being less shaggy. The wild pigs of Baluchistan and Afghanistan 

 may be S. scrofa, as are, I think, those of Persia and Mesopotamia. 



The tame pig of India is doubtless derived from the wild 

 animal and probably breeds with the latter in places. I have more 

 than once seen a litter of tame young pigs striped ; and as this 

 peculiarity is wanting in tame animals generally, such litters may 

 have been the produce of tame sows by wild boars. 



According to Blyth the Tenasserim wild pig is a much smaller 

 form, adult skulls being one-fifth less in linear dimensions. 



Habits. The Indian wild boar is found during the day in high 

 grass or bushes, sometimes in forest and often in high crops the 

 females and young as a rule associating in herds or " sounders " 

 usually of ten or a dozen, and rarely exceeding about twenty 

 individuals, whilst the adult males keep apart. They roam about 

 and feed on various vegetable substances in the morning and 

 evening. They are partial to marsh, and feed largely on the roots 

 of plants growing in swampy places especially, according to 



