Thanks for the great question. And yes, I an doing field work with Mexican hogs. Also, I have a friend(state herp biologist) that did a can trap series and he found them very common, I will see if he made any report on size.

Sexual dimorphism such as size difference in gender is common with reptiles. Why, in a giant nutshell non answer, phenotypic pressures, or better yet, Selection pressures, which means, we don't know.

That said, I am not sure there is a size difference in maximum size. There is without question an average size disparity.

When I started my field work, a good friend told me about these hogs and went we looked, told me males are tiny compared to females. He showed me that in the field. But then, what your told or read or shown, should not influence field work. The field work will reveal what it reveals.

First, what crawls on the surface is not representative of what hogs are or do. Its only a indication of what animals move from one spot to another. On the roads, small males are most common by far at certain times of the year, other times, for instance with neonates make their move, both sexes are normal. And a few periods of time, adult females can be seen. On the road, small males are common. Please note, this is seen with many species.

In the actual field(not on roads) The results were different. That is, there were times when adult females were the most commonly seen type. At that time, they did not cross roads. Staying near their chosen areas. At this time, adult males were also found that where large and equal in size to the females. I am pretty sure if I hunted with a tractor, I would receive, a whole new data set. hahahahahahahaha which means, they LIVE underground and by number, almost never use the surface. In other words, hogs are not obligate surface baskers, or surface feeders, or surface shedders. etc. part 1

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]