bushpig

/ ˈbʊʃˌpɪɡ /

noun

1. Also called: boschvark. a wild pig, Potamochoerus porcus , inhabiting forests in tropical Africa and Madagascar. It is brown or black, with pale markings on the face

Example Sentences

"This study is a result of a large international collaboration with researchers from Africa and Europe. We sequenced 67 complete bushpig genomes and by using a range of different genetic analyses, we were able to address these long-standing puzzles in African evolution and biogeography," explains one of the senior authors of the study, Associate Professor at the Department of Biology, Rasmus Heller.

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Remarkably, the bushpig is the only large, wild terrestrial mammal species that has somehow historically crossed the 400-kilometer-wide Mozambique Channel and made it from mainland Africa to the island of Madagascar.

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"Our study establishes that the bushpig was introduced to Madagascar ≈1,000-5,000 years ago from South/South-East Africa," Rasmus states.

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"Intriguingly, our results raise a host of new questions: was the bushpig actually brought to Madagascar as a somewhat domesticated species? There is no archaeological or other evidence of bushpig domestication ever occurring, despite them being an important source of protein for many rural communities. And who was it that transported these animals to Madagascar? Was it Bantu-speakers, Austronesian-speakers or both? These questions and others still remain to be explored," explains Renzo F. Balboa, postdoc at the Department of Biology and one of the leading authors of the study.

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A new scientific study sheds light on longstanding questions about the interplay between evolution and geography in one of these mammals, namely the iconic African bushpig, and helps settle a major question regarding prehistoric human activities shaping biodiversity patterns in Africa.

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