Tayassu

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A classification for a group of swine-like mammals native to the Americas that exhibit unique dental structures and social behaviors
2. This term describes a type of medium-sized mammal found in various habitats across South America, notable for its herd behavior and physical traits resembling those of pigs
3. A term referring to a family of pigs-like animals commonly found in Central and South America, distinguished by their adaptations to diverse environments and social group dynamics

Etymology: Tayassu is the genus name for the peccaries, the piglike hoofed mammals of the Americas, and it is a modern scientific coinage rather than an ancient word. The name was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811, who took it from the Tupi-Guarani name "tagassu" used for these animals in South America, probably by way of Portuguese and Spanish accounts of Brazil. Illiger gave the Latinized form a classical ending so it could sit comfortably among other genus names in the scientific system. The name is a case of a local word being adopted into taxonomy, much as "jaguar" and "tapir" passed from indigenous languages into European ones. Its close relative, the name "Pecari," sometimes appears in older texts and comes from a Cariban language of Guiana, showing that European naturalists collected several local names for these animals and sorted them into different groups. Today "Tayassu" usually refers to the white-lipped peccary and its close relatives, while the collared peccary is placed in a separate genus.

Synonyms: peccary