ENVIRONMENT
“wet mud keeps them cool as heat is given off by evaporation – a technique also used by elephants”
Anatomy of the pig
Often maligned in popular culture and language, hogs are much smarter and cleaner than you might at first think… Piggy physiology What is special about the anatomical make up of the pig?
Tail A pig’s short tail can comprise over 20 caudal vertebrae, which is around the same number found in a cow’s tail.
It seems unfair that the English language has amassed so many derogatory sayings about pigs, because under the skin they’re a lot like us. Indeed, the hearts of some breeds are similar enough in weight, internal structure and the rate at which blood is pumped through to have potential for human heart transplants. Pigs are also impressive learners. In a study published in 2009 scientists showed a reflection of food to pigs who had previously seen mirrors and compared their responses with a group that hadn’t. The former were much less likely to think the food was behind the glass. Pigs and other members of the Suidae family, which includes wild boars and warthogs, have a strong skeleton that allows them to be sturdy defenders of their territories and offspring. They also have a very good sense of smell that compensates for poor eyesight. A hog’s snout, together with its even-toed trotters
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and short, muscular limbs, is perfectly adapted for sniffing out and uncovering food buried in the soil of the forests and grasslands in which the species evolved. Wild pigs will consume grubs, amphibians and small birds as well as forage for roots, leaves, nuts, fruit and fungi. To chew on this omnivorous diet they have canine, incisor and molar teeth, just as we do. The pig’s digestive system, meanwhile, features anatomical differences from ours (a spiral colon, for example), but works the same way: food is broken down in a one-chambered stomach and intestines and then passes through to the colon for excretion. Contrary to the myth, pigs keep bodily waste away from food and don’t wallow in it. They do like a mud bath because they don’t perspire. Wet mud keeps them cool as heat is given off by evaporation – a technique also used by elephants. ‘Sweating like a pig’ then is one saying that definitely does pigs a disservice.
Intestines The cecum and colon that make up the large intestine in pigs are arranged in spiral coils.
Leg Strong legs allow piglets to stand soon after birth. As adults they use that strength to dig for food.
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