Kolpochoerus

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 5.3–.0126 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
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

The restoration of Kolpochoerus limentes

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]