Babirusa: The prehistoric 'deer' pigs with huge antler teeth

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Babirusas are amongst the earliest living members of the pig household and up until 2002, all babirusas were believed to come from a single types.
(Image credit: Manoj Shah/Getty Images)

Call: Babirusa (Babyrousa

Where it lives: Sulawesi and surrounding islands in Indonesia

What it consumes: Leaves, fruit, mushrooms, tree bark, bugs, fish and little mammals

Why it’s remarkable: When we consider pigs, we tend to envision round animals with charming snouts, however babirusas are really various.

Male babirusas have big upper canine teeth, which grow downwards before curving back around and up through the top of the snout.

Like human fingernails and hair, these tusk-like teeth continue to grow throughout their life time– and they can even become the skull. After extending from the tops of the snout, the teeth appear like antlers, which is how babirusas got their name– the word babirusa suggests “pig deer” in the Malay language. Babirusas are likewise often called “prehistoric pigs” due to the fact that they appear in cavern illustrations from almost 40,000 years ago

Researchers do not understand precisely why male babirusas have these tusks. Initially, biologists thought they assisted males battle each other to win mates, however babirusas do not in fact utilize their tusks for combating– they get up on their hind legs and box each other. Babirusa tusks are likewise vulnerable, making them inappropriate for battle. It’s now believed they are utilized to draw in womenalthough this theory hasn’t been shown.

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Members of the Babyrousa genus reside in swamps in rain forests on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Buru, and the Togian and Sula island chains– and are discovered no place else worldwide. They’re around 2 feet (60 centimeters) high, 3 feet(90 cm )long and can weigh more than 200 pounds (90 kgs).

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They are amongst the earliest living members of the pig household. Up until 2002, all babirusas were believed to come from a single types. There are now 3 understood living types of babirusa. The North Sulawesi babirusa (Babyrousa celebensisis a brown-gray color and survives on Sulawesi. The Buru babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussais covered in thick, golden hair and is belonging to the islands of Buru and the Sula Islands of Mangole and Taliabu. The hairless Togian babirusa (Babyrousa togeanensisis just discovered on the Togian islands.

A 4th smaller sized types called the Bola Batu babirusa (Babyrousa bolabatuensiswas recognized by fossils on Sulawesi in the 1950s, however it is thought to be extinct

Babirusas likewise have detailed, two-chambered stomachs, which are more like the digestion systems of sheep than those of their fellow pigs. They tend to utilize their hooves to dig for food however can likewise base on their 2 hind legs to reach fruit and leaves on trees. Unlike other members of the pig household, babirusas do not have a thick rostral bone in their snouts, implying their snouts are too weak to root in tough ground.

Babirusas are thought to have actually diverged from their pig forefathers in between 26 million and 12 million years back, possibly due to the fact that they ended up being separated on Sulawesi when water level increased at the end of the last glacial epoch.

Lydia Smith is a health and science reporter who works for U.K. and U.S. publications. She is studying for an MSc in psychology at the University of Glasgow and has an MA in English literature from King’s College London.