Pigs

**Pigs** are characters appearing in the educational video series created by EdukayFUN.

## Description

The pigs appear to be of the miniature pot-bellied variety with pink skin and corkscrew tails. Little is known of their personality, although it is probably safe to assume that they are domesticated and have been trained to run around in circles.

## Analysis

One research group attempting to understand the evolutionary relationship of the characters appearing in the EdukayFUN video series generated a Bayesian phylogenetic tree from morphological data using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. They were astounded to find that pigs, reindeer, toads, and parrots all placed into a distinct clade, suggesting a strong genetic relationship. This finding contradicts modern evolutionary theory, which classifies pigs and reindeer as mammals, and should not group with animals of reptilian and amphibian origin, such as birds and toads, from which mammals diverged in the late Triassic over 200 million years ago. Instead, they should group with other mammals, such as cats and primates, which diverged from each other only approximately 80 million years ago. The researchers conclude that the theory of evolution must be flawed. A fringe group of conspiracy theorists argue that the reindeer, toads, and parrots seen in the video series are actually just pigs in convincing disguises. Although this argument is consistent with current evolutionary thinking, it is largely rejected by the research community as being too far-fetched; they maintain that the only reasonable explanation is to concede that Darwin's once-celebrated theory is fundamentally incorrect.

Another group of researchers attempted to classify the EdukayFUN characters using a large scale meta-analysis of over two hundred thousand recently published studies on the subject. Using a generalized pairwise modelling framework incorporating multiple three-treatment closed-loop analysis, they found statistical significance for three theories:

1. **They are all separate species.** This theory suggests that pigs (both winged and flightless), deer, frogs, and birds are actually all unrelated, but are colloquially referred to as "pigs" by Papa. Advocates of this theory note prior precedent for Papa's idiosyncratic use of specific terms (*e.g.*, silverware) to refer to collections of seemingly unrelated objects. Alternatively, Papa may simply be confusing the different species in a manner similar to how one may confuse an aardvark with an anteater, or an elephant, since they all have long noses. They dismiss the phylogenetic tree evidence described earlier as worthless, stating that Bayesian tree-building methods are susceptible to poorly chosen prior probability models, a practice for which the research team responsible for building the tree have been accused of in the past.
2. **They are separate breeds of pig.** Just like other domesticated animals, pig breeds number in the hundreds. (Examples of major swine breeds include Berkshire, Chester White, Yorkshire, Spotted, Landrace, Poland China, and Hampshire.) Proponents of the separate breeds theory speculate that in the region of the world where EdukayFUN is set, pigs are in ample supply, whereas other desirable working animals, such as reindeer, frogs, and birds, are scarce, and pigs have been bred to substitute for their hard-to-come-by counterparts.
3. **The EdukayFUN universe is different.** This highly controversial theory acquired statistical significance from observations of baseballs consuming base runners, and young boys eating fir trees. The theory argues that the principles of genetic inheritance in the EdukayFUN universe may not align with our own. Opponents of this theory argue that just because nobody in the real world has ever observed someone's eyes spontaneously transforming into pigs' heads doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and therefore the EdukayFUN universe is not necessarily different from ours. For this to be the case, they argue, the video series would have to be a portal into a different universe, a notion they dismiss as absurd. Curiously, an independent group of researchers investigating Pirate Papa have advanced a similar theory.

The subject is a very controversial one in the field of Saccharology.

## Appearances

### Disputed

1. Johnny Johnny yes papa (Christmas) - EdukayFUN (as Reindeer)
2. Jingle Bells - EdukayFUN (as Reindeer)
3. Johnny Johnny yes papa (Halloween Vampire) - EdukayFUN (as Flying Pigs)
4. Johnny Johnny yes papa (Halloween Witch) - EdukayFUN (as Toads)
5. Johnny Johnny yes papa (Holiday of the Pirate) - EdukayFUN (as Parrots)