Desert Warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus)
The Desert Warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus) is a species of even-toed ungulate in the pig family (Suidae), found in northern Kenya and Somalia, and possibly Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. This is the range of the extant subspecies, commonly known as the Somali warthog (P. a. delamerei). Another subspecies, commonly known as the Cape warthog (P. a. aethiopicus), became extinct around 1865, but formerly occurred in South Africa.
Fossils have been found from the Holocene epoch showing that two divergent lines of warthogs (Phacochoerus spp.) were in existence thousands of years ago. The ancestors of the present day common warthog (P. africanus) had a different number of incisors than the ancestors of the desert warthog (P. aethiopicus) line. During the late nineteenth century, P. aethiopicus became extinct in South Africa. Subsequently, study of mDNA as well as morphological analysis has shown that the East African population of warthogs, previously thought to be a variant of the common warthog, are in fact surviving members of the putatively extinct P. aethiopicus.
The desert warthog is a stockily-built animal growing to an average length of 125 centimetres (49 in) and weight of 75 kilograms (165 lb) with males being larger than females. It has a rather flattened head with distinctive facial paired protuberances ("warts") and large curving canine teeth that protrude as tusks. These are not present in juveniles but grow over the course of a few years. They are larger in males than in females. The body is sparsely covered with bristly hairs and a more dense region of hairs runs along the spine and forms a crest. The tail is long and thin and is tipped with a small brush of coarse hair. The general colour is mid to dark brown but the crest is sometimes whitish. The desert warthog differs from the bushpig (Potamochoerus porcus) and the giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) in having facial warts and proportionately larger tusks.
Desert warthogs can be differentiated from the common warthog by their distinctive facial features, including curled back tips at the end of the ears, lack of incisors, and generally larger snout. The suborbital areas in desert warthogs are swollen in the form of pouches that often extend to the base of the genal warts; these same areas in common warthogs have no such pronounced swelling. The species also has more strongly hook-shaped "warts", a more egg-shaped head, thickened zygomatic arches, and enlarged sphenoidal pits.
The desert warthog is native to the Horn of Africa. Its current range extends from southeastern Ethiopia through western Somalia to eastern and Central Kenya. The subspecies P. a. aethiopicus, commonly known as the Cape warthog, used to occur in the southeastern parts of Cape Province and the adjacent parts of Natal Province but became extinct around 1871. The habitat of the desert warthog is open arid countryside including thin woodland with scattered trees, xerophytic scrubland and sandy plains, but not upland areas. It needs regular access to waterholes and so may occur near villages and places where water seeps to the surface in otherwise dry areas.
Based on distribution, the following image are of the Desert Warthog species from Samburu, northern Kenya and Southeastern Ethiopia.
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
The Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P. aethiopicus, but today that scientific name is restricted to the desert warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia.
Subspecies
Nolan warthog (P. a. africanus) Gmelin, 1788 – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan
Eritrean warthog (P. a. aeliani) Cretzschmar, 1828 – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia
Central African warthog (P. a. massaicus) Lönnberg, 1908 – Kenya, Tanzania
Southern warthog (P. a. sundevallii) Lönnberg, 1908 – Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Southern warthog P. a. sundevallii South Africa
Nolan warthog P. a. africanus Senegal
Eritrean warthog P. a. aeliani Ethiopia
The common warthog is a medium-sized species, with a head-and-body length ranging from 0.9 to 1.5 metres (2 feet 11 inches to 4 feet 11 inches), and shoulder height from 63.5 to 85 cm (2 ft 1 in to 2 ft 9+1⁄2 in). Females, at 45 to 75 kilograms (99 to 165 pounds), are smaller and lighter than males, at 60 to 150 kg (130 to 330 lb).[4][5] A warthog is identifiable by the two pairs of tusks protruding from the mouth and curving upwards. The lower pair, which is far shorter than the upper pair, becomes razor-sharp by rubbing against the upper pair every time the mouth is opened and closed. The upper canine teeth can grow to 25.5 cm (10 in) long and have a wide elliptical cross section, being about 4.5 cm (1+3⁄4 in) deep and 2.5 cm (1 in) wide. A tusk will curve 90° or more from the root, and will not lie flat on a table, as it curves somewhat backwards as it grows. The tusks are not used for digging, but are used for combat with other hogs and in defense against predators – the lower set can inflict severe wounds.
Common warthog ivory is taken from the constantly growing canine teeth. The tusks, particularly the upper set, work in much the same way as elephant tusks with all designs scaled down. Tusks are carved predominantly for the tourist trade in eastern and southern Africa.
Southern Warthog in Chobe
The head of the common warthog is large, with a mane down the spine to the middle of the back. Sparse hair covers the body. Its color is usually black or brown. Tails are long and end with a tuft of hair. Common warthogs do not have subcutaneous fat and the coat is sparse, making them susceptible to extreme environmental temperatures.
The common warthog is the only pig species that has adapted to grazing and savanna habitats. Its diet is omnivorous, composed of grasses, roots, berries and other fruits, bark, fungi, insects, eggs and carrion.The diet is seasonably variable, depending on availability of different food items. During the wet seasons, warthogs graze on short perennial grasses. During the dry seasons, they subsist on bulbs, rhizomes, and nutritious roots.
Warthogs are powerful diggers, using both their snouts and feet. When feeding, they often bend their front feet backwards and move around on the wrists. Calloused pads that protect the wrists during such movement form early in the development of the fetus. Although they can dig their own burrows, they often occupy abandoned burrows of aardvarks and other animals. The common warthog commonly reverses into burrows, with its head facing the opening and ready to burst out if necessary. Common warthogs will wallow in mud to cope with high temperatures and huddle together to cope with low temperatures.
Although capable of fighting (males fight each other during mating season), the common warthog's primary defense is to flee by means of fast sprinting. When threatened, Warthogs can run speeds of up to 48 km/h (30 mph), will run with their tails sticking up and will enter their dens rear first with tusks facing out. The common warthog's main predators are humans, lions, leopards, cheetahs, crocodiles, wild dogs and hyenas. Birds of prey such as Verreaux's eagle owls and martial eagles sometimes prey on piglets. However, a female common warthog will defend her piglets aggressively. On occasion, common warthogs have been observed charging and even wounding large predators. Common warthogs have also been observed allowing banded mongooses and vervet monkeys to groom them to remove ticks.
The following galleries have images of Common Warthog subspecies:
Nolan Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus africanus) Bale Mountains Ethiopia
Central African Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus massaicus) various locations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
Southern Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus sundevallii) various locations in Southern Africa - Namibia, Botswana
