A review of the cranial characteristics of the Wild Boar (Susscrofa Linnaeus 1758), with systematic conclusions

The Wild Boar Sus scrofa L. is widely distributed in Europe, Asia and North‐West Africa. It has also been introduced into the USA and Argentina. Authors have described 22 subspecies on the basis of cranium shape and size. Differences in taxonomic characters have been evaluated using one‐way ANOVA and multiple comparisons have been performed with the Bonferroni Test. Cranium shape does not allow reliable statistical distinction, and is not valid as a diagnostic tool. Cranium profile‐which only differs for the male specimens, with populations differing at a value of 26.9%, or at the subspecies level 24.4%–cannot be used as a diagnostic tool. The length, width and their proportions of the third upper molar tooth show the following differences between subspecies: 39.1%, 41.0% and 8.3% for males and 36.1%, 41.7% and 16.7% for females, respectively. Only the first two criteria are useful as diagnostic tools. The percentage distance between the palatum durum and the basipterygoideus suture, the length of the third lower molar tooth and proportion between the height of lacrimal bone at the orbit and its lower suture length differ as follows: at the subspecies level 46.7%, 38.5% and 56.4% for the male specimens and 36.1%, 45.8% and 55.6% for the female ones. All of these characters can be used as diagnostic criteria. Taking these taxonomic characters and the four shapes of the lacrimal bone together with the rear margin of palatum durum as a basis, only four subspecies of Wild Boar are recognizable: Sus scrofa scrofa , inhabiting North‐West Africa, Europe and West Asia; Sus scrofa ussuricus , which inhabits North Asia and Japan; Sus scrofa cristatus , which inhabits the Asia Minor peninsula, India and the Far‐East; and Sus scrofa vittatus , which inhabits Indonesia.