(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-07 09:51

Hunters transport a wild pig claimed to be a new species along the Arauazinho river in the Brazilian Amazon on Sept. 2003. Dutch scientist Marc van Roosmalen claimed to have discovered a new species of wild pig measuring over four feet, 1.2 meters, nearly twice the size of similar beasts roaming the same remote corner of the Amazon. [Agencies]

DNA analysis showed the animal diverged from the most closely related species, Pecari tajacu, or collared peccary, about 1 million to 1.2 million years ago, Van Roosmalen said.

Scientists said more research is necessary to confirm the species is new.

"The possible discovery of a new peccary species is very exciting, and plausible, considering recent discoveries of new mammal species in the Amazon," said Alexine Keuroghlian, a researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society. But "further research is necessary," she said.

Van Roosmalen's success in discovering new species in the Amazon has earned him international acclaim.

In June, it also earned him a 16-year prison sentence in Brazil for auctioning off naming rights to some of the species to raise money for preserving the wild areas where they live. He is appealing the conviction, in which the court ruled naming rights belong to the government.

Many scientists have denounced his conviction, which includes charges of keeping animals without a permit at his home.

Van Roosmalen was jailed for nearly two months before lawyers won his release Aug. 7.

The lawyers contend the charges were trumped up by local logging interests who fear his discoveries may interfere with their efforts to expand into nearly pristine jungle between the Madeira and Tapajos rivers.

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