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

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

^ "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. hdl:11336/54840.

[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. hdl:11336/54840.

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