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Common warthog
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==Social behavior and reproduction== Common warthogs are not territorial, but instead occupy a home range.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Maher, C. R.|author2=Lott, D.F. |title=Definitions of territoriality used in the study of variation in vertebrate spacing systems|doi=10.1016/0003-3472(95)90080-2|year=1995|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=49|issue=6|page=1581|s2cid=53188426 }}</ref> Common warthogs live in groups called sounders. Females live in sounders with their young and with other females.<ref name="Kleiman 2004"/> Females tend to stay in their natal groups, while males leave, but stay within the home range.<ref name="Kleiman 2004"/> Subadult males associate in bachelor groups, but males live alone when they become adults.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> Adult males only join sounders with estrous females. Warthogs have two facial glands: the tusk gland and the sebaceous gland. Common warthogs of both sexes begin to mark around six to seven months old.<ref name="Estes 1982">{{cite journal|author1 =Estes, R.D. |author2 =Cumming, D. |author3 =Hearn, G. |year=1982|title=New Facial Gland in Domestic Pig |author4 =Warthog|journal= Journal of Mammalogy |volume=63|issue=4|pages= 618β624|jstor=2462591|doi=10.2307/1380267}}</ref> Males tend to mark more than females.<ref name="Estes 1982"/> They mark sleeping and feeding areas and waterholes.<ref name="Estes 1982"/> Common warthogs use tusk marking for courtship, for antagonistic behaviors, and to establish status.<ref name="Estes 1982"/> <gallery mode="packed" heights="130px"> Common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus sundevallii) suckling.jpg|Suckling<br>[[Etosha National park]], [[Namibia]] female warthog with young.jpg|Female with young<br>[[Etosha National park]], [[Namibia]] Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) young males fighting.jpg|Young males fighting<br>[[Tswalu Kalahari Reserve]], [[South Africa]] Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) young males eyeballing.jpg|Young male kneels to protect throat<br>[[Tswalu Kalahari Reserve]], [[South Africa]] Nolan warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus africanus) juveniles drinking.jpg|''P. a. africanus'' juveniles<br>[[Senegal]] Warthog and Impala, Etosha, Namibia.jpg|Warthog and [[Impala]] at [[Etosha National Park]] </gallery> {{anchor|Reproduction}} Common warthogs are [[seasonal breeder]]s.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> Rutting begins in the late rainy or early dry season and birthing begins near the start of the following rainy season.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> The mating system is described as "overlap promiscuity": the males have ranges overlapping several female ranges, and the daily behavior of the female is unpredictable. Boars employ two mating strategies during the rut. With the "staying tactic", a boar will stay and defend certain females or a resource valuable to them.<ref name="Sandell 1992">{{cite journal|author1 =Sandell, M. |author2 =Liberg, O.|year=1992|title=Roamers Stayers: A Model on Male Mating Tactics and Mating Systems|journal=The American Naturalist|volume= 139|issue=1|pages= 177β189|jstor=2462591|doi=10.1086/285319|s2cid =85392231}}</ref> In the "roaming tactic", boars seek out estrous sows and compete for them.<ref name="Sandell 1992"/> Boars will wait for sows to emerge from their burrows.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> A dominant boar will displace any other boar that also tries to court his female. When a sow leaves her den, the boar will try to demonstrate his dominance and then follow her before copulation.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> For the "staying tactic", monogamy, female-defense [[Polygyny in animals|polygyny]], or resource-defense polygyny is promoted, while the "roaming tactic" promotes scramble-competition polygyny.<ref name="Sandell 1992"/> The typical [[gestation]] period is five to six months. When they are about to give birth, sows temporarily leave their families to farrow in a separate hole.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> The [[Litter (animal)|litter]] is two to eight piglets, with two to four typical. The sow will stay in the burrow for several weeks, nursing her piglets.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> Common warthog sows have been observed to nurse foster piglets if they lose their own litter.<ref name="Jensen 1999">Jensen, S.P., Siefert, L., Okori, J.J.L., Clutlon-Brock, T.H. (1999). "Age Related Participation in Allosucking by Nursing Warthogs." ''Journal of Zoology'' London 248(4): 443β449</ref> This behavior, known as allosucking, makes them [[alloparenting|cooperative breeders]]. Allosucking does not seem to be a case of mistaken identity or milk theft,<ref name="Jensen 1999"/> and may be a sign of kin altruism. Piglets begin grazing at about two to three weeks and are weaned by six months.<ref name="Estes 1991"/> Piglets quickly attain mobility and stay close to their mothers for defense.<ref>Walther, F. R. (1984). ''Communication and Expression in Hoofed Mammals''. Bloomington, Indiana University Press {{ISBN|0253313805}}</ref> Common warthogs live for an average of 7 to 11 years in the wild. Captive specimens on the other hand can live for an average of 21 years. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Creel |first=Eileen |title=Phacochoerus africanus (common warthog) |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Phacochoerus_africanus/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=Animal Diversity Web |language=en |archive-date=15 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215090541/https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Phacochoerus_africanus/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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