Andrew Wetzler's Blog
Now that's a big pig
November 7, 2007
Posted by Andrew Wetzler in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
When you think about and write about endangered species a lot, it's easy to become, shall we say, discouraged. That's why it's always welcome news whenever a new species is discovered. We too easily assume that human beings have discovered all there is to know about the diversity of life--especially big mammalian life--on this planet. But the truth is we discover new species all the time. The latest entry is a new species of pig or peccary (a picture of a close cousin, the collard peccary, is below). Clocking in at over three feet long (huge for a peccary), the new species, named pecari maximus by Dr. Marc van Roosmalen, lives in the jungles of Brazil. So welcome to the party, pecari maximus. It's damned good to meet you.
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Comments
John Platt — Nov 8 2007 12:27 PM
Newly discovered, yes, but the new species is already considered endangered and scientists hope to add it to the Red List of Endangered Species before long.