Currently, it is believed that all warthogs belong to one species, which in turn is divided into several subspecies (from 4 to 7). They inhabit exclusively the territory of Africa, mainly in the savanna zone of the continent.
Adult specimens have a body length of 105 to 150 centimeters, a height at withers of 55 to 85 centimeters and a weight of 50 to 150 kilograms. Males are usually larger than females, but have a shorter tail. Their skin coloration is gray, and their hair may be yellow or dark brown. In the wild, however, they often take on the color of the soil on which they live, due to their life in burrows and regular dust baths.
In warthogs, the number of teeth changes throughout their lives: the last molar, which does the main work of chewing food, constantly grows wider and displaces neighboring teeth. As a result, by the end of their lives, they have only 16 teeth and their molars grow to enormous sizes. Their canines are very powerful, with the upper ones being much longer than the lower ones. In older males, they can exceed 60 centimeters in length and be curved to three-quarters of their circumference.
One of the characteristic signs of the appearance of warthogs are muzzle warts, which are dense skin growths and increase in size during life. In older males, they can be elongated and reach a length of up to 15 centimeters. Life expectancy of these animals in the wild is 12-15 years, in zoos they can live up to 18 years.
