They are often confused[2] with feral domestic pigs, commonly known as "razorback" hogs in many parts of the United States,[3] when the two occur in the wild in similar ranges.

In Spanish, it is called javelina, jabalí (a word also used to describe wild boar), sajino, or pecarí.

Peccaries are omnivores and will eat insects, grubs, and occasionally small animals, although their preferred foods consist of roots, grasses, seeds, fruit,[9] and cacti—particularly prickly pear.

The dental formula for peccaries is: 2.1.3.33.1.3.3 By rubbing the tusks together, they can make a chattering noise that warns potential predators to stay away.

[13] Peccaries rely on their social structure to defend territory, protect against predators, regulate temperature, and interact with other members of the species.

The collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) or "musk hog", referring to the animal's scent glands, occurs from the Southwestern United States into South America and the island of Trinidad.

The coat consists of wiry peppered black, gray, and brown hair with a lighter colored "collar" circling the shoulders.

They bear young year-round, but most often between November and March, with the average litter size consisting of two to three offspring.

Notable populations exist in the suburbs of Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, where they feed on ornamental plants and other cultivated vegetation.

A fourth as yet unconfirmed species, the giant peccary (Dicotyles maximus), was described from the Brazilian Amazon and north Bolivia[19] by Dutch biologist Marc van Roosmalen.

Though relatively recently discovered, it has been known to the local Tupi people as caitetu munde, which means "great peccary which lives in pairs".

However, the scientific evidence for considering it as a species separate from the collared peccary has later been questioned,[22][23] leading the IUCN to treat it as a synonym.

[25] In addition, Tayassuidae have a well-attested fossil record, and numerous extinct genera are known:[citation needed] Although some taxa from the Old World like the European Miocene Taucanamo have been suggested to be members of Tayussidae, their assignation to the group is equivocal, with a 2017 phylogenetic analysis recovering Taucanamo outside the clade containing suids and peccaries.

[28] Several species of peccary across the genera Platygonus and Mylohyus remained in North America until their extinction following the colonization of the continent by humans via Beringia at the end of the Pleistocene.

Today, 2 of the 3 species are relegated to the Neotropical realm, but the collared peccary ranges into northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.Peccaries bear a familial resemblance to true pigs due to their common ancestry, and are in the same suborder as swine (Suina).

[30] It has been documented that peccaries were tamed, penned, and raised for food and ritual purposes in the Yucatán, Panama, the southern Caribbean, and Colombia at the time of the Conquest.

[31] Archaeological remains of peccaries have been found in Mesoamerica from the Preclassic (or Formative) period up until immediately before Spanish contact.