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Collared peccary - TAYASSU TAJACU
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Peccary": "Peccary" is from Cariban (language of the Caribbean Sea) "pakira," a name for the animal.
Location: From the southern United States to southern Brazil.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Plains with bushes and cacti.
Description: Its general appearance is similar to that of the old world Suidae family, but its tail is vestigial (virtually gone). The coat is bristly, blackish and has a yellowish white band, or “collar” on the shoulders. On the back there is a glandular area secreting an oily substance with a strong smell of musk. This peccary grows to about 40 inches long, about 22 inches tall at the shoulders, and weighs about 65 pounds.
Behavior: This peccary's diet includes animal and plant matter, but consists mainly of roots, fruit, and tubers. It gathers in groups of ten to twenty, but sometimes even three dozen individuals of different ages and both sexes. In summer the group is active only in the cooler parts of the day, but in winter it is busy all day long. If it is alarmed or frightened it can flee rapidly. Its natural enemies are jaguars and pumas.
Reproduction: The mating season is not restricted to a certain season. Gestation lasts about 150 days and the female usually gives birth to two young.
Note: This family consists of three species, all located in the Americas. They are closely related to the suidae (pigs) of the old world. All members of both families of taysasuids and suids have a disc-like nasal cartilage. The American taysasuids have only three toes on the hind feet, however, unlike the old-world suids, which have four.
Go to the Artiodactyla Page to learn more about all the even-toed hoofed animals.
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