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The wild boar (Sus scrofa), also known as the wild swine, [4] common wild pig, [5] Eurasian wild pig, [6] or simply wild pig, [7] is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suiform. [5]
There were pigs in Cyprus more than 11,400 years ago, introduced from the mainland, implying domestication in the adjacent mainland by then. [23] Pigs were separately domesticated in China, starting some 8,000 years ago. [24] [25] [26] In the Near East, pig husbandry spread for the next few millennia.
DNA analyses of individual boar that were carried out a few years later showed that the species thrived there and bred with escaped domestic pigs, resulting in the emergence of boar-pig hybrids. [6] Compared to the escaped domestic pigs, the wild boar were better suited to living in the region. [6]
Some of the earliest known domestications were of animals. Domestic pigs had multiple centres of origin in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, [36] where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago. [37] Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 11,000 BC and 9000 BC. [38]
The study indicated that pigs were domesticated separately in Western Asia and China, with Western Asian pigs introduced into Europe where they crossed with wild boar. A model that fitted the data included admixture with a now extinct ghost population of wild pigs during the Pleistocene .
Pig meat: It's a weirdly polarizing subject. In some cultures, it's a mealtime staple; in others, it's considered so unclean that there are entire dietary laws and rituals governing what to do if ...
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Suidae is a family of artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs, or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domestic pigs and wild boars separately), classified into between four and eight genera .