Phacochoerus, F. Cuvier, 1826

Louail, Margot, Souron, Antoine, Merceron, Gildas & Boisserie, Jean-Renaud, 2025, New insights on feeding habits of Kolpochoerus van Hoepen & van Hoepen, 1932 from the Shungura Formation (Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia) using dental microwear texture analysis, Comptes Rendus Palevol 24 (7), pp. 89-122 : 96-98

Phacochoerus

exhibits the most anisotropic surfaces when compared to other extant suid taxa ( Fig. 3A; Tables 1 ; 2; Appendix 15). Its mean and median epLsar values are significantly higher than in omnivorous Potamochoerus and Sus (p <0.02, Table 2; Appendix 15), but Phacochoerus does not significantly differ from Hylochoerus . Potamochoerus and Sus are similar in anisotropy and include the lowest values. In terms of complexity, we observe that Sus shows the highest values among our sample of extant suids. However, significant differences with the three other taxa are identified with LSD post-hoc tests (p <0.03, Table 2; Appendix 12), not HSD tests. Potamochoerus tends to exhibit shearing surfaces that are slightly more complex than Hylochoerus and Phacochoerus . When looking at the heterogeneity of complexity (here, HAsfc36; Fig. 3), we observe that Phacochoerus is significantly lower than all other taxa (p <0.03, Table 2; Appendix 13), and strongly differs from Sus (p <0.001, Table 2; Appendix 13). Hylochoerus and Potamochoerus tend to show intermediate HAsfc36 values between Sus and Phacochoerus , but do not significantly differ from our Sus sample. Summary statistics for the extant suid genera analyzed in this study are presented in Table 1 .

We also observe differences within the genera Potamochoerus and Phacochoerus , as well as intra-specific differences within Sus scrofa ( Fig. 3A). These differences concern the anisotropy (epLsar) and the heterogeneity (HAsfc36) of surface textures, not the complexity (Asfc; Appendices 12; 13; 15). Notably, common warthogs ( Ph. africanus ) exhibit wear surfaces less anisotropic than those of desert warthogs ( Ph. aethiopicus ), as shown by the median value of the former being 1.5 times lower than for the latter ( Fig. 3; Appendix 7). However, the two samples of warthogs do not significantly differ ( Appendix 17). Common warthogs even exhibit a median epLsar value below the ones measured for the two populations of Sus scrofa and the one of Po. larvatus . Still, they show the highest inter-quartile range with specimens that present more anisotropic surfaces than all other omnivores, and no significant difference is identified between them and the other suid samples ( Appendix 17). Regarding HAsfc36, although desert warthogs tend to show higher values than common warthogs, they do not significantly differ, and both species tend to display more homogeneous wear surfaces than omnivorous and less-specialized suids (p <0.04 with LSD test only; Appendix 18). Species of Potamochoerus slightly differ, Po. larvatus showing more anisotropic, more complex and more heterogeneous surfaces than Po. porcus ( Fig. 3), but differences are not significant (Appendices 17; 18). At last, the two wild boar populations also slightly differ (though not significantly;Appendices 17; 18), the boars from France showing more complex, more anisotropic and less heterogeneous wear surfaces than boars from the Białowieża Forest in Poland ( Fig. 3).