Catagonus
Genus of mammals
title: "Catagonus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mammal-genera", "mammal-genera-with-one-living-species", "taxa-named-by-florentino-ameghino", "peccaries"] description: "Genus of mammals" topic_path: "general/mammal-genera" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catagonus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of mammals ::
| fossil_range = Pliocene – Recent | image = Catagonus wagneri closeup.jpg | image_caption = Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri) | taxon = Catagonus | authority = Ameghino, 1904 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =
- 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
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).
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. If this is accepted, then Catagonus becomes an extinct genus once more.
References
References
- "Catagonus".
- (1975). "Catagonus, an "Extinct" Peccary, Alive in Paraguay". Science.
- (2017). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution.
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