Babirusa

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Babirusa

Babirusa specimen at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vulnerable (VU)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Suidae
Genus:	Babyrousa
Species:	B. babyrussa

Binomial name

Babyrousa babyrussa
Linnaeus, 1758

The Babirusa or pig-deer, Babyrousa babyrussa, is a pig-like animal native to Sulawesi and surrounding islands of Indonesia. The babirusa has usually been classified as a single species in the genus Babyrousa, but recent work suggests that there may be several species, differentiable on the basis of geography, body size, amount of body hair, and the shape of the upper canine tooth of the male. Babirusas are typically categorized as belonging to the pig family but it has been suggested that they might represent living members of the Anthracotheriidae, an otherwise extinct group of hoofed mammals. Most experts agree that babirusas are part of the pig family, and are one of the oldest members of the family, representing a subfamily, Babyrousinae, that branched off from other pigs during the Oligocene.

Its habitat is the underbrush of tropical forests and canebrakes and the shores of rivers and lakes, where its mostly-hairless, mottled-grey-and-brown hide provide it with a degree of camouflage.

The babirusa is known for its two pairs of tusks: both its upper and its lower pairs of canine teeth are greatly enlarged, and curve up and back towards the head; in fact, the upper canines of the male babirusa are so curved and enlarged that they emerge through the flesh, by way of holes, to pass through the top of the snout.

This species is on the endangered list.

Because it is split-hooved and has a three-chambered stomach (and was thus thought to be a ruminant for a long time), there was some dispute in Halakha (Jewish law) as to whether the babirusa pig is, in fact, kosher (permitted according to Jewish dietary laws). Eventually it was found that the animal is not a true ruminant, and thus remains 'trefe' like other pigs.

It is reported (here) that in 2006 a male babirusa and a female domestic pig accidentally interbred in the Copenhagen (Denmark) Zoo. The offspring were 5 hybrid piglets most resembling the babirusa, both in their teeth and skin colour.

[edit] Media

Four-tusk babirusa from Indonesian region.

Babirusa skull on display at Field Museum.

Male and female Babirusa (Edinburgh Zoo)

[edit] References

Pigs & Peccaries Specialist Group (1996). Babyrousa babyrussa. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd v2.3)

[edit] External links

Categories: Pigs | Endangered species | Fauna of Indonesia