| Potamochoerus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Suidae |
| Subfamily: | Suinae |
| Genus: | Potamochoerus Gray, 1854 |
| Type species | |
| Choiropotamus pictus | |
| Species | |
Potamochoerus larvatus(F. Cuvier, 1822) | |
Potamochoerus (fromAncient Greek ποταμός (potamós), meaning "river", andχοῖρος (khoîros), meaning "pig") is agenus in the pig family (Suidae). The two species are restricted tosub-Saharan Africa, although the bushpig, possibly due tointroduction by humans, also occurs inMadagascar and nearbyislands. Early in the 20th century, there were considered to be as many as five different species within the genus. These were gradually consolidated, until, in the 1970s, it was generally agreed that all were representatives of just a single species (P. porcus). The bushpig was again recognised as a separate species from about 1993.[1]
The oldest fossils that can be assigned to the genus date from the midPliocene in Europe, and are first seen in Africa from least the midPleistocene, suggesting that it originally evolved in somewhere in Eurasia.[1] However,molecular phylogenetic evidence suggests that the genus first diverged from the line leading to thegiant forest hog and thewarthogs much earlier, in the lateMiocene, between 11.9 and 5.6 million years ago. The same studies suggest that the two living species diverged from one another between 4.8 and 0.2 million years ago.[2]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
_in_the_camp_..._(31489633423).jpg) | Potamochoerus larvatus(F. Cuvier, 1822) | Bushpig | East and Southern Africa. |
 | Potamochoerus porcus(Linnaeus, 1758) | Red river hog | Guinean and Congolian forests |
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