Miniature guinea pigs
| Miniature guinea pigs | ||||||||||||
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Southern dwarf guinea pig (Microcavia australis) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Microcavia | ||||||||||||
| Gervais & Ameghino 1880 |
Miniature guinea pigs ( Microcavia ) are a genus in the guinea pig family with three species.
The genus lives in arid areas in Argentina and Bolivia . Both the German and the scientific name make it clear that these are the smallest members of the guinea pig family. The aggressiveness between the individual group members is not as high as with other guinea pigs. Life expectancy is four to seven years.
Appearance
Dwarf guinea pigs are the smallest members of the guinea pig family, weighing up to 450 g and about 20 cm in size. They resemble yellow-toothed guinea pigs in appearance , but they have white circles under the eyes and white teeth. Both the males and the females have four teats.
Way of life
Miniature guinea pigs are able to climb up bushes and smaller trees. Their diet consists largely of leaves and fruits. They cover their water needs with fleshy plants. The territories of the dwarf guinea pigs have a size of 3,200 square meters. They create shallow hollows in the ground, in larger groups also small structures (up to about 30 cm deep). Often abandoned burrows are taken over by other animals.
Reproduction
The gestation period of the dwarf guinea pigs lasts an average of 54 days. Then they give birth to one to three, in rare cases up to five, young, whose birth weight averages 30 g. In addition to breast milk, you will consume solid foods right from the start.
species
- Southern dwarf guinea pig ( Microcavia australis )
- Microcavia shiptoni
- Microcavia niata
