Domestic Pig
A highly intelligent omnivore that shaped human agriculture and challenges our perceptions of animal cognition.
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) is a large, omnivorous mammal descended from the wild boar. In East Asia 8,000 years ago, pigs were domesticated from wild boar that were genetically different from those found in the Fertile Crescent. In the Fertile Crescent 10,000-11,000 years ago, zooarchaeology indicates that pigs were among the first livestock to be domesticated. One study has concluded that human selection for domestic traits likely counteracted the homogenizing effect of gene flow from wild boars into pigs and created domestication islands in the genome.
Quick Facts
- Family
- Suidae
Lore & Background
The domestication of the pig is a dual-origin story, occurring independently in Eurasia and East Asia. The same process may also apply to other domesticated animals.
Reader's Guide
Domestic pigs thrive in environments as varied as the breeds themselves. As opportunistic omnivores, their menu is equally diverse, spanning roots, tubers, fruits, grains, insects, small vertebrates, and human food scraps. They are deeply social creatures that organize into groups. Certain animal species make better candidates for domestication because they exhibit certain behavioral characteristics, including the size and organization of their social structure, the availability and the degree of selectivity in their choice of mates, the ease and speed with which the parents bond with their young, and the maturity and mobility of the young at birth.
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