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Entries for April 2012

White-lipped peccary
Scientific Name: Tayassu pecari

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(April 23, 2012)   -   White-Lipped Peccaries are found in the Cerrado and Pantanal forests of South America. Peccaries, or Queixadas, as they are locally known as, are the unsung, misunderstood heroes of environmental engineering in the Cerrado and Pantanal biomes of South America. Peccaries might have certain physical attributes and characteristics similar to pigs and warthogs; however, contrary to popular opinion they do not belong to the same family. They do wallow in the mud and use their snouts to dig up f...

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A Champion for Peccaries

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(April 23, 2012)   -   Call it the under-pig. While Brazil’s tropical wetlands may be better known for their spotted cats and freshwater fish, the peccary is one of the country’s most important forest critters. (Though distinct from pigs, peccaries bear a strong resemblance and are part of the same sub-order.) As seed dispersers, forest engineers—and yes, as prey for those famed jaguars and mountain lions—they play key roles in maintaining local biodiversity.

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