The collared peccary, or javelina, evolved in South America and migrated north, only recently arriving in Arizona. Javelina bones are not found in Arizona archaeological sites and early settlers made infrequent references to their occurrence. It's possible that the peccary spread simultaneously with the replacement of Arizona's native grasslands by scrub and cactus. The collared peccary has one of the greatest latitudinal ranges of any New World game animal, occurring from Arizona to Argentina. The range of the peccary is still expanding, primarily northwestward. In the United States, the collared peccary only occurs in Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico.
