Academic literature on the topic 'Hylochoerus'

AbstractThirty warthogs, Phacochoerus africanus, were collected in the Pongola Game Reserve, South Africa and examined for helminths. Gastrointestinal helminth assemblages comprised Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus, the cestode genus Moniezia and seven species of nematodes. A single warthog harboured a metacestode of Taenia hydatigena in the mesenteries. No helminths were found in the heart, lungs or liver of the warthogs. Probstmayria vivipara and Murshidia spp. were the most prevalent as well as abundant helminth species, followed by Physocephalus sexalatus. The incidence of Moniezia did not differ between hosts of different sex or age. Numbers of Murshidia spp. were not affected by host sex, but were higher in adults than in juveniles. Conversely, burdens of Trichostrongylus thomasi were not affected by host age, but were higher in males than in females. While not highly significant, helminth assemblages in male warthogs were more species rich than in females. Helminth communities in the three genera of wild sub-Saharan suids are largely unique, but Ph. africanus and Hylochoerus meinertzhageni share more worm species with each other than with Potamochoerus larvatus, possibly because the former two are more closely related. Overlap between helminth communities of African wild suids and those of other suids and Tayassuidae worldwide is limited.

A large stable isotope dataset from East and Central Africa from ca. 30 regional collection sites that range from forest to grassland shows that most extant East and Central African large herbivore taxa have diets dominated by C4 grazing or C3 browsing. Comparison with the fossil record shows that faunal assemblages from ca. 4.1–2.35 Ma in the Turkana Basin had a greater diversity of C3–C4 mixed feeding taxa than is presently found in modern East and Central African environments. In contrast, the period from 2.35 to 1.0 Ma had more C4-grazing taxa, especially nonruminant C4-grazing taxa, than are found in modern environments in East and Central Africa. Many nonbovid C4 grazers became extinct in Africa, notably the suid Notochoerus, the hipparion equid Eurygnathohippus, the giraffid Sivatherium, and the elephantid Elephas. Other important nonruminant C4-grazing taxa switched to browsing, including suids in the lineage Kolpochoerus-Hylochoerus and the elephant Loxodonta. Many modern herbivore taxa in Africa have diets that differ significantly from their fossil relatives. Elephants and tragelaphin bovids are two groups often used for paleoecological insight, yet their fossil diets were very different from their modern closest relatives; therefore, their taxonomic presence in a fossil assemblage does not indicate they had a similar ecological function in the past as they do at present. Overall, we find ecological assemblages of C3-browsing, C3–C4-mixed feeding, and C4-grazing taxa in the Turkana Basin fossil record that are different from any modern ecosystem in East or Central Africa.

Pectoral girdle and forelimb bones of the hippopotamuses, Hippopotamus amphibius and Choeropsis liberiensis were examined and compared to those of the suids, Sus scrofa, Phacochoerus aethiopicus, Potamochoerus porcus, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni and the tayassuids, Peccary tajacu and Tayassu peccari. Although no longer considered close hippo relatives, these comparison taxa share similar body shapes with hippos, making the groups ecomorphs. This study identifies specific anatomical characters among the adaptations equipping these animals to occupy partially overlapping ecological niches. Even though their habits differ (hippos are semiaquatic; pigs and peccaries are fully terrestrial) similar selective forces obtain because all three groups must accommodate the use of extremely large and robust canine teeth in intraspecific combat and self‐defense. The pygmy hippo and suoids also use the canines during feeding; all compared taxa show adaptations for support of large heads although cranial dimensions in hippos, especially H. amphibius, are maximized. The relative proportions of the forelimb girdles and limb bones differ between the hippos and among the suids compared to the tayassuids. Not only is H. amphibius far greater in body size, but this taxon also has, relatively speaking, the shortest legs. The fully terrestrial pigs and peccaries range in weight from less than 1/10th of that of the common hippo to approximately the size and mass of the pygmy hippo. Scapular glenoid fossae in both hippo taxa are rounded concavities, while the humeral heads are rounded convexities. Comparable features in suoids are more elongate although all groups show some degree of humeral head circumduction. The supraspinous fossa in the hippos is relatively much larger than that of the suoids; the latter all show more gracile scapulae than in either hippo taxon. All compared taxa have prominent scapular spines. In the hippos, the spine is a large, sharp lateral projection, recurving distally, to become a greatly ventrally expanded acromion process. In the peccaries it arises nearly from the anterior scapular border, while at the origin, the ridge is located increasingly posteriorly in the progressively larger‐bodied taxa (in order: P. porcus, S. scrofa, P. aethiopicus) until it arises directly halfway anteroposteriorly from the neck in H. meinerzhageni. In most of the suoids this feature arises as a gently sloping lateral projection from the scapular neck, without an acromion process. The exception is H. meinerzhageni in which the spinous process projects slightly farther laterally along the distal half of the bone. Both hippos show an additionally widened and thickened bulge midway along the spine, which does not extend toward the posterior border, as would a true metacromion process. In contrast, in all suoids, a metacromion process is prominent, triangular, with an often rounded, thickened and rugose posteriorly pointing projection. Although these differences are subtle, they reflect differing emphases on muscle groups that perform similar fore and aft as well as circumductive forelimb movements.