''Perchoerus'' is an extinct genus of suine from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

and

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

of North America. Three species are known. While often considered to be a

peccary A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...

, other studies have recovered it to be a basal suine outside of either peccaries or

Suidae Suidae is a family of artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domestic pigs and wild boars separately), classified into ...

. The oldest known species of ''Perchoerus'' is ''P. minor'', which was only the size of a house

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

. It is known from skull and tooth material. The later ''P. nanus'' of the

Orellan The Orellan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), 34-32 million years ago. It is usually considered to fall within the Early Oligocene ...

grew larger and is known from a skull and lower jaw. The latest and largest species was ''P. probus'' of the Oligocene (32-30 mya). It was much larger (about as big as living peccaries) and known from more remains than the other species.

References

Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Peccaries Prehistoric mammals of North America Eocene mammals of North America Oligocene mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub