Tayassuidae – Peccaries
A skunk pig is neither skunk nor pig but a peccary partial to prickly pears
Peccaries may resemble wild pigs but belong to a separate family, found only in the Americas. Their short, straight tusks are used for digging and defense. Peccaries have a varied diet, including roots, fruit, and insects. They also enjoy eating cacti, from which they obtain most of their water.
They are social, territorial animals, as there is both kinship and safety in numbers. They chatter with their teeth when disturbed and bark when they sense danger. They have scent glands located below their eyes and on their backs. These produce a secretion with a musky odor, used to mark fellow herd mates, who are then recognized by scent rather than sight.
Genera in this family
They can spend up to two-thirds of their day traveling and feeding
Also known as tagua and it is the last existing species of its genus, with only 3000 individuals present today
Suffering from poorly developed vision, they heavily rely on vocalization to communicate
