Montane guinea pig

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Montane guinea pig
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Caviidae
Genus: Cavia
Species: C. tschudii
Binomial name
Cavia tschudii
Fitzinger, 1867[2]

The montane guinea pig, Cavia tschudii, a type of rodent, is a guinea pig species from the Andes in South America. The montane guinea pig is the likely ancestor of Cavia porcellus, the cavy or domestic guinea pig.


Peruvian wild guinea pigs were first described by E. T. Bennett in 1835, who termed them Cavia cutleri. Johann Jakob von Tschudi, in an 1845 publication, used the term Cavia cutleri to refer to what are now considered two separate entities - the first, Bennett's Cavia cutleri, which was later (by Oldfield Thomas in 1917) identified as probably a differently pigmented version of Cavia porcellus, and the second, a wild Peruvian guinea pig that was clearly different from the animal Bennett described.[3] In 1867,[2] Leopold Fitzinger renamed the latter guinea pig Cavia tschudii.[3]


The montane guinea pig is a medium-sized species, growing to a total length of 247 mm (9.7 in). The colour varies in different parts of the range; in Peru, the dorsal fur is dark reddish-brown mixed with black, and the underparts are dark buffy-grey; in Chile, the dorsal surface is pale agouti brown with paler underparts; in Bolivia, the upper parts are agouti olive and the underparts creamy-white or white.[4]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

The montane guinea pig is native to the high Andes in South America. Its range extends from Peru southward to the Tarapacá Region of Chile and the Tucumán Province of Argentina. Its altitudinal range is 2,000 to 3,800 metres (6,600 to 12,500 ft) above sea level. It lives in moist habitats with rocks and coarse vegetation, making runways through the foliage. In Argentina it lives in burrows with several entrances.[4]


The montane guinea pig has a gestation period around 63 days. Litter size ranges from one to four, and the young grow quickly, becoming mature at two months of age.[4]


  1. ^ Dunnum, J.; Patterson, B.; Zeballos, H. & Teta, P. (2008). "Cavia tschudii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 5 January 2009. 
  2. ^ a b Fitzinger, Leopold (1867). "Versuch einer natürlichen Anordnung der Nagethiere (Rodentia)". Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Wien (Mathematische-naturwissenschaftliche Classe) 55: 453-515; 56:57-168. Modern references commonly list this incorrectly as 1857. OCLC OCLC 36832988
  3. ^ a b Weir, Barbara J. (1974), "Notes on the Origin of the Domestic Guinea-Pig", in Rowlands, I. W.; Weir, Barbara J., The Biology of Hystricomorph Rodents, Academic Press, pp. 437–446, OCLC 1212331 
  4. ^ a b c John F. Eisenberg; Kent H. Redford (15 May 2000). Mammals of the Neotropics, Volume 3: Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil. University of Chicago Press. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-226-19542-1. 

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