Scientists know it as Tayassu tajacu . Biologists say the confusion probably started as soon as European explorers arrived in the New World. The javelina is native to the Western Hemisphere, while true pigs developed in the Eastern Hemisphere. Distinguishing characteristics include size. Javelinas are small and compact, weighing from 30 to 55 pounds, while adult feral hogs can reach 100 pounds or more.
Feral hogs come in a variety of colors and combinations of colors.
Javelinas are commonly found in dense thickets of prickly pear, chaparral, scrub oak, or guajillo in the brush country south of San Antonio, and over wide areas of the Edwards Plateau and the Trans-Pecos. They can also be found throughout Mexico and Central America and well into South America. They travel in bands ranging from a few animals to as many as 45. They have a musk gland on their rump which gives them their characteristic smell. Studies show that although javelinas are omnivorous, that prickly pear cactus provides up to half their diet while also fulfilling most of its water requirement.