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 ====== I. BABIRUSA MORPHOLOGY ======
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 An average babirusa is somewhat average-sized for a species of wild pig - measuring about a metre in length and just over a half-metre in height. The general body shape of the babirusa has been likened to a barrel, with slender legs and a somewhat arched back. Compared to most other species of wild pig, babirusa are comparatively hairless, with musculature and skin-folds clearly visible. The folded skin of the babirusa may be grey or pinkish in colouration - but is rather variable on the colour of dirt or clay where the animal lives - babirusa commonly wallow in dirt or clay, as do all other species of pig. Features possessed by other species of pig are evident in babirusa - notably split hooves, prominent snout, and a relatively short tail. Female babirusa are tuskless, though the male animal's curled tusks can grow to about a third of the animal's total body length, ocassionally growing into the skull itself. Should this not occur, it is believed that the tusks aid males when in combat with other males. Babirusa also differ from much of the pig family in that the skull of the babirusa lacks a rostral bone to strengthen the tissue plate of the snout's rhinarium - meaning that, in the exception of loose, moist ground, babirusa do not root the earth as do other pigs.