BUSH- PIG 39i 



THE BUSH-PIG 



(Potamochcerus cliceropotamus} 



Bosch-vark, CAPE DUTCH ; Ingulubi, SWAZI AND ZULU ; 

 Nguruive, NYASA 



Although near akin to the typical swine of North Africa, Europe, 

 and Asia, the bush -pig of South Africa and its relatives present 

 certain peculiarities which render it, on the whole, convenient to refer 

 them to a genus apart. They have, for example, only 42, in place of 

 44, teeth ; and their tusks are relatively small. Of more importance 

 is the presence of a ridge of bone on each side of the nose-bones 

 immediately above the root of the upper tusk, and of a second ridge 

 on the sheath of the tusk itself, in the skulls of adult boars. In very 

 old boars the upper ridge has a horny covering, so that it in some 

 degree represents a horn. The ears terminate in tufts of long hair ; 

 and very frequently the colouring of the whole animal is bright. Like 

 so many modern African animals, bush-pigs appear to have existed 

 in tertiary times in India ; the extinct species described as Sus 

 hysudricus, S. titan, and S. giganteus being now referred to the genus 

 Potamoclicerus. 



As regards the number of species of bush-pigs, the paper by 

 Dr. C. J. Forsyth-Major in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 for 1897 is here followed. It should, however, be mentioned that 

 in the appendix to Major Powell -Cotton's Sporting Trip through 

 Abyssinia the Hon. Walter Rothschild recognised the following seven 

 African species, viz. 



Potamochozrus cheer o pot amus. West Africa, south to Angola. 



Potamochcerus capensis, South Africa. 



Potamochcerus nyasa. Lake Mweru and South- West Nyasaland. 



Potamochcerus dcemonis, Uganda and German East Africa. 



Potamochcerus johnstoni. North- West Nyasaland. 



Potamochcerus hassama. North-East Africa. 



Potamochcerus porcus. West Africa. 



In addition, there is the Malagasy P. lari'atus, which probably 

 reached its present habitat from East Africa by swimming the 

 intervening Strait. 



The present species (P. ch&rofotamus} is characterised by the 

 great development of the ridges on the face of the skulls of adult 



