PIGS. 



439 



THE WART-HOGS. 

 Genus Phacochoerus. 



As Africa possesses in the red bush-pig the handsomest representative of the 

 Swine family, so in the wart-hogs it presents us with the most hideous members, 

 not only of that group, but of the whole Ungulate order. 



The wart-hogs, of which there are two nearly allied species, are characterised 

 by the enormous size of their heads, in which the lower part of the face is 

 extremely flat and broad, while below each eye is a huge warty protuberance 



^ELIAN'S WART-HOG (^ nat. size) 



between which and the tusk there are two other of smaller size. The head is likewise 

 distinguished by the great length of the muzzle, and the consequent backward 

 position of the eyes ; the hideous physiognomy being completed by the huge tusks 

 with which the jaws of both sexes are armed, those of the upper jaw being 

 considerably longer than those of the lower, or just the reverse of what occurs in 

 the true pigs. This difference in the proportionate length of the upper and lower 

 tusks in the two groups is due to the circumstance that in the wart-hogs the lower 

 pair only bite against the inferior surface of the upper ones, instead of abrading 

 their whole summits. The upper tusks are devoid of enamel except at their tips, 



