Catagonus

Catagonus; Temporal range: Pliocene – Recent
	Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Tayassuidae
Genus:	Catagonus; Ameghino, 1904
Species
	Catagonus wagneri? - Chacoan peccary; †Catagonus bonaerensis?; †Catagonus carlesi?; †Catagonus metropolitanus (type); †Catagonus stenocephalus? - Narrow-headed peccary;
Synonyms
	Brasiliochoerus; Parachoerus;

Catagonus is a genus of peccaries that contains the living Chacoan peccary, C. wagneri, and several extinct species. The genus has always been restricted to South America.

Taxonomy[edit]

Catagonus is notable in that the type species, C. metropolitanus, is extinct; the living Chacoan peccary was first described in 1930 from subfossil remains, and only found alive by scientists in 1972 (an example of a Lazarus taxon).^[2]

A 2017 study on the phylogenetic systematics of Tayassuidae species suggests that Catagonus should only contain C. metropolitanus. The extinct narrow-headed peccary (C. stenocephalus) should be moved into Brasiliochoerus, while the Chacoan peccary, C. bonaerensis and C. carlesi should be placed in Parachoerus.^[3] If this is accepted, then Catagonus becomes an extinct genus once more.

References[edit]

^ "Catagonus". Fossilworks.
^ Wetzel, Ralph M. (1975). "Catagonus, an "Extinct" Peccary, Alive in Paraguay". Science. 189 (4200): 379–381. doi:10.1126/science.189.4200.379. PMID 17840828.
^ Parisi-Dutra, R. (2017). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (3): 345–358. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8.

[1] "Catagonus". Fossilworks.

[2] Wetzel, Ralph M. (1975). "Catagonus, an "Extinct" Peccary, Alive in Paraguay". Science. 189 (4200): 379–381. doi:10.1126/science.189.4200.379. PMID 17840828.

[3] Parisi-Dutra, R. (2017). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (3): 345–358. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8.

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