View source for Miller and Roper: "two distinct species of peccary live in Mesoamerica....They were hunted and eaten as early as Olmec times"

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==Miller and Roper: "two distinct species of peccary live in Mesoamerica....They were hunted and eaten as early as Olmec times"==
Wade E. Miller and Matthew Roper: <ref>Wade E. Miller and Matthew Roper, [http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/animals-in-the-book-of-mormon-challenges-and-perspectives/ "Animals in the Book of Mormon: Challenges and Perspectives,"] Blog of ''Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture'' (April 21, 2014)</ref>
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Presently two distinct species of peccary live in Mesoamerica. These include the Collared Peccary (Pecari tajacu) and the White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari), both of which can be found in the tropical regions near the Tuxtlas Mountains of the Yucatan. <ref>A. Starker Leopold, “Wildlife of Mexico: The Game Birds and Mammals,” (Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1959), 493-500.</ref>  The Jaredites as they presumably established settlements in Mesoamerica no doubt would have encountered them. They were hunted and eaten as early as Olmec times. Remains of these animals have been found associated with man for several thousands of years. There is a paleo-Indian carving of an extinct camel sacrum in the shape of a peccary. A Picture of this bone is shown by Evans. <ref>S. T. Evans, “Ancient Mexico & Central America: Archaeology and Culture History,” (London, Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 2004).</ref> The bone of this extinct camel came from deposits in central Mexico, and shows ancient interaction between this extinct animal and Pre-columbian natives.  Remains of Pre-Columbian peccary have been found finds in Loltún Cave in the Yucatan <ref>Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales and Ticul Alverez, “A preliminary report of the late Quaternary mammal fauna from Loltún Cave, Yucatán, México,” In B. W. Schubert, J. I. Mead and R. W. Graham (eds.) ''Ice Age Faunas of North America'' (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2003), 266.</ref> and in several other caves in the region associated with human artifacts. <ref>Robert T. Hatt, ''Faunal and Archaeological Researches in Yucatan Caves'' (1953), 1-42.</ref>  There is no question that peccaries (“wild pigs”) and man shared this area since prehistoric times.
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[[File:Platygonus extinct peccary mesoamerica looks like pig.jpg|thumb|400px|center|Image taken from Miller and Roper, [http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/animals-in-the-book-of-mormon-challenges-and-perspectives/#_edn80 "Animals in the Book of Mormon: Challenges and Perspectives,"] Blog of ''Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture''.]]
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