Traits That Characterize the Pig As a Mammal

Pigs are mammals that can be found in the wild, on farms and even as pets in some family homes. These animals share many characteristics with human beings, which are also mammals. The qualities that designate pigs as mammals are evident just by watching the animals go about their daily lives.

  1. Mammary Glands

    • Newborn pigs are fed milk from their mother's mammary glands.

      Mammary glands are one of the most recognizable traits that all mammals share and pigs are not exception. After a mother pig gives birth to piglets, she feeds them her own milk, just as humans do. She feeds them from her nipples after her mammary glands produce milk. Pigs have more nipples than humans do, but that is because they give birth to many more babies at once. The ability to produce milk characterizes the pig as a mammal.

    Intelligence

    • Pigs have large brains that are associated with mammals.

      One of the traits of mammals is that they large brains compared to other types of animals. This often means that they have a higher level of intelligence. In an article from the New York Times, Natalie Angier states that research has concluded that pigs use their extreme intelligence to locate food and other resource. They have been shown to use mirrors to determine where food is located. Pigs can also learn tricks at one of the fastest rates of mammals.

    Hooves

    • The hooves of the pig classify them as ungulate mammals.

      Some mammals have hooves that help to characterize them. Pigs are classified as an ungulate mammal, meaning a type of mammal that has hooves. These hooves are comprable to fingernails that humans have. Obviously hooves are much longer than fingernails and that is how pigs are able to walk on them. Horses, another ungulate mammal, also have hooves, which groups them in the same type of mammal as pigs.

    Body Temperature

    • Because they don't have sweat glands, pigs lay in the mud to keep cool.

      Another one of the most important characteristics that helps identify pigs as mammals is the fact that are able to control their body temperature. Unlike many other types of mammals, however, pigs do not produce sweat. They have to find another way to stay cool. For dogs, this means panting and exposing the dog so that moisture lifts off of them. For pigs, this means rolling around in the mud they are so famous for to keep their body temperature cool and collected.