Caviinae is a subfamily uniting all living members of the family

Caviidae Caviidae, the cavy family, is composed of rodents native to South America and includes the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the largest living rodent, the capybara. They are found across South America in open areas from moist savanna to tho ...

with the exception of the maras, capybaras, and ''

Kerodon The genus ''Kerodon'' (vernacular name Mocos; Rock Cavies) contains two species of South American rock cavies, related to capybaras and guinea pigs. They are found in semiarid regions of northeast Brazil known as the Caatinga. This area has a roc ...

''. The subfamily traditionally contained the guinea pig or cavy-like forms along with the cursorially adapted (running) ''Kerodon''.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

results suggest the Caviinae as so defined would be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and ''Kerodon'' is more closely related to maras and capybaras than to other caviines.Rowe, D. L. and R. L. Honeycutt. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships, ecological correlates, and molecular evolution within the Cavioidea (Mammalia, Rodentia). Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19:263-277. This led Woods and Kilpatrick (2005) to unite ''Kerodon'' and capybaras into the subfamily Hydrochoerinae within the Caviidae. These studies also suggest ''

Microcavia ''Microcavia'' (mountain cavies) is a genus of rodents in the family Caviidae. They are unique within their family in that their premolar teeth do not grow and replace the original deciduous cheek teeth until after the animal is born; in other g ...

'' and ''

Cavia ''Cavia'' is a genus in the subfamily Caviinae that contains the rodents commonly known as guinea pigs or cavies. The best-known species in this genus is the domestic guinea pig, ''Cavia porcellus'', a meat animal in South America and a common ...

'' are more closely related to one another than either is to '' Galea''.

Genera and species

*Subfamily Caviinae **†'' Cardiomys'' **†'' Allocavia'' **†'' Palaeocavia'' **†'' Neocavia'' **†'' Dolicavia'' **†'' Macrocavia'' **†'' Caviops'' **†'' Pascualia'' **'' Galea'' - yellow-toothed cavies ***'' Galea flavidens'' - Brandt's yellow-toothed cavy (may be an invalid species) ***'' Galea monasteriensis'' - Muenster yellow-toothed cavy ***''

Galea musteloides The common yellow-toothed cavy (''Galea musteloides'') is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae, closely related to the domesticated guinea pig. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru , image_flag = Flag of Pe ...

'' - common yellow-toothed cavy ***''

Galea spixii Spix's yellow-toothed cavy (''Galea spixii'') is a rodent, a cavy species from South America. It is found in Bolivia east of the Andes and much of south central to northeastern Brazil. The species is found in open savanna and semiarid habitats, ...

'' - Spix's yellow-toothed cavy **''

'' - mountain cavies ***''

Microcavia australis The southern mountain cavy (''Microcavia australis'') is a species of South American rodent in the family Caviidae. Description Southern mountain cavies are tailless rodents with short, speckled, greyish-yellow fur, fading to pale grey on the un ...

'' - southern mountain cavy ***''

Microcavia niata The Andean mountain cavy (''Microcavia niata'') is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae. It is found in Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Feeding The Andean mountain cavy's diet consists of herbs typically of the genus Eleocharis, Distichlis, V ...

'' - Andean mountain cavy ***''

Microcavia shiptoni Shipton's mountain cavy (''Microcavia shiptoni'') is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae. It is endemic to Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southe ...

'' - Shipton's mountain cavy **''

'' - guinea pigs ***'' Cavia aperea'' - Brazilian guinea pig ***'' Cavia fulgida'' - shiny guinea pig ***''

Cavia intermedia Santa Catarina's guinea pig (''Cavia intermedia'') or Moleques do Sul cavy is a rare guinea pig species of southeastern South America. Distribution The small mammal is endemic to the small coastal island of Moleques do Sul Archipelago, located i ...

'' - intermediate guinea pig ***''

Cavia magna The greater guinea pig (''Cavia magna'') is a species of rodent found in the coastal strip of Brazil and Uruguay, where it lives in moist grassland and marshes. Description A large rodent, the greater guinea pig grows to a total length of and w ...

'' - greater guinea pig ***''

Cavia porcellus The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the a ...

'' - domestic guinea pig ***'' Cavia tschudii'' - montane guinea pig

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q914293 Cavies Taxa named by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim Mammal subfamilies

Genera and species

References

Further reading

External links