Kolpochoerus
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kolpochoerus is an extinct genus of the pig family Suidae related to the modern-day genera Hylochoerus, Phacochoerus, and Potamochoerus. It is believed that most of them inhabited African forests, as opposed to the bushpig and red river hog that inhabit open brush and savannas. There are currently eleven recognized species.
| Kolpochoerus Temporal range: Zanclean to Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
| |
| Kolpochoerus limnetes skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Suidae |
| Genus: | †Kolpochoerus van Hoepen and van Hoepen, 1932 |
| Type species | |
| †Kolpochoerus heseloni Leakey, 1943[1] | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Species
In taxonomic order:[citation needed]
- Genus †Kolpochoerus
- K. deheinzelini — Chad, Ethiopia (Early Pliocene)
- K. afarensis - eastern Africa (Pliocene)
- K. limnetes- eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
- K. millensis — Central Afar, Ethiopia (Pliocene)
- K. cookei - Ethiopia (Late Pliocene)
- K. heseloni - eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
- K. olduvaiensis - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
- K. majus - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
- K. phacochoeroides - Morocco (Late Pliocene)
- K. paiceae - South Africa (Pleistocene)
- K. phillipi - Ethiopia (Pleistocene)
Palaeoecology
Based on dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) of its fossils from Kanapoi and Hadar, K. afarensis had a broad, unspecialised diet that included foods that were hard and brittle as well as underground foods such as roots and tubers.[2] DMTA of Kolpochoerus fossils from the Shungura Formation suggests that the genus had a preference for young, minimally abrasive grasses.[3]
