Unfussy eating habits may have contributed to the pig's domestication by humans, say scientists.
A study of pig DNA has highlighted genes that allow the animals to gobble up almost anything put in front of them.
Pigs have a unique sense of smell but a somewhat impaired sense of taste.
They have a high tolerance of salt, and significantly fewer bitter taste receptors than humans.
Genes involved in the perception of sweet and umami, or meaty, flavours also differ between humans and pigs.
"Understanding the genes that shape the characteristics of pigs can point to how and why they were domesticated by humans," said lead scientist Professor Alan Archibald, from The Roslin Institute at Edinburgh University.
"Perhaps it was their ability to eat stuff that is unpalatable to us humans."
Strong links were found between the genetic causes of disease in pigs and humans.
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