Are Bears Part of the Pig Family?
Bears are not part of the pig family. Bears come from the Ursidae family, while pigs are part of the Suidae family. Both bears and pigs have the same infraclass, Theria, which includes all mammals the have placentas such as tigers and horses.
Although bears and pigs do not share the same family, they do have a few similarities. For instance, they both have broad molars used to crush food, and they both use mud to maintain their body temperatures. Scientists classify the males as boars and the females as sows.
Bears or the Ursidae family are close relatives of dogs, seals and skunks because they are all in the Carnivora order. The Ursidae family consists of five genera, including Ailuropoda, Helarctos, Tremarctos, Melursus and Ursus. The four species in the Ursus genus include American black bear, brown bear, polar bear and Asiatic black bear.
Pigs or the Suidae are more closely related to other even-toed hoofed animals, such as deer, camels, cattle and giraffes, because they are all in the Artiodactyla order. The Suidae family is broken into the Babyrousa, Hylochoerus, Phacochoerus, Potamochoerus and Sus genera. Warthogs belong to the Phacochoerus genus, while boars and pigs belong to the Sus genus.
