Pigs | Suidae

Varkens | Suidos

The only even-toed ungulate in Europe that does not chew the cud: the stomach has a single chamber and the menu is an omnivore's — roots, tubers, fungi, acorns and beech mast, earthworms, small animals and carrion. That food is found by smell and dug out with the snout, which ends in a round cartilaginous disc supported by a bone of its own and driven through the ground like a plough by heavy neck muscles. The canines grow throughout life and curve outwards as tusks, the lower being constantly whetted against the upper and so kept sharp. Each foot carries four toes, the outer two of which bear on soft ground. The coat is of stiff bristles with a mane over the neck. The piglets are striped lengthwise and are born in a nest of dragged-together plant material; the litter is large — exceptional for an ungulate.