AnAge entry for Sus scrofa

Classification (HAGRID: 02060)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Artiodactyla
                Family: Suidae
                    Genus: Sus
Species: Sus scrofa
Common name: Wild boar
Synonyms: Sus domesticus

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

Maximum longevity

27 years (captivity)

Source

ref. 671

Sample size

Large

Data quality

High

Observations

While achieving sexual maturity much earlier, males do not typically mate until they are about 5 years old. One specimen of the riukiuanus subspecies lived for 27 years in captivity [0671]. As these animals age, there is a global loss of DNA methylation in the gene-body region of skeletal muscle [1207].

Animals of the /domestica/ subspecies are mostly slaughtered before they reach their maximum lifespan. Additionally, due to being raised for produce, pigs will often get lameness and joint conditions, due to their rapid weight gain. Furthermore, they are also able to develop cancer in their digestive tract and melanomas [1389].

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity: 334 days
Male sexual maturity: 768 days
Gestation: 115 days
Weaning
Litter size: 7 (viviparous)
Litters per year: 1.5
Inter-litter interval: 230 days
Weight at birth: 960 g
Weight at weaning
Adult weight: 130,000 g
Postnatal growth rate: 0.0095 days^-1 (from Gompertz function)
Maximum longevity residual: 91%

Metabolism

Typical body temperature: 312ºK or 39.0ºC or 102.2ºF
Basal metabolic rate: 104.1500 W
Body mass: 135000.0 g
Metabolic rate per body mass: 0.000771 W/g

References

[1389] Hoffman and Valencak (2020), A short life on the farm: aging and longevity in agricultural, large-bodied mammals (PubMed)
[1207] Jin et al. (2014), Genome-wide DNA methylation changes in skeletal muscle between young and middle-aged pigs (PubMed)
[1143] Nussey et al. (2013), Senescence in natural populations of animals: widespread evidence and its implications for bio-gerontology (PubMed)
[1136] Gomes et al. (2011), Comparative biology of mammalian telomeres: hypotheses on ancestral states and the roles of telomeres in longevity determination (PubMed)
[0978] Jones et al. (2009), PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of extant and recently extinct mammals
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology
[0189] Kapahi et al. (1999), Positive correlation between mammalian life span and cellular resistance to stress (PubMed)
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0441] William Burt et al. (1998), A Field Guide to Mammals
[0998] Swiergiel (1997), Modifications of operant thermoregulatory behavior of the young pig by environmental temperature and food availability (PubMed)
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0542] Bernhard Grzimek (1990), Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals
[0081] Miller (1988), A set of test life tables for theoretical gerontology (PubMed)
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves
[0319] Bal and Getty (1973), Changes in the histomorphology of the uterus of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) with advancing age (PubMed)
[0318] Bal and Getty (1970), Changing morphology of the uterine tubes of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) with age (PubMed)

External Resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information System: ITIS 180722
Animal Diversity Web: ADW account
Encyclopaedia of Life: Search EOL
NCBI Taxonomy: Taxonomy ID 9823
Entrez: Search all databases
Ageing Literature: Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
Images: Google Image search
Internet: Search Google