|
Sponsored Links
Mus porcellus
Cavia cobaya
Cavia anolaimae
Cavia cutleri
Cavia leucopyga
Cavia longipilis The Guinea pig (also commonly called the cavy after its scientific name) is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not pigs, nor do they come from Guinea. They are native to the Andes, and while no longer extant in the wild, they are closely related to several species that are commonly found in the grassy plains and plateaus of the region. The guinea pig plays an important role in the folk culture of many indigenous South American groups, especially as a food source, but also in folk medicine and in community religious ceremonies.[1] Since the 1960s, efforts have been made to increase consumption of the animal outside South America.[2] In Western societies, the guinea pig has enjoyed widespread popularity as a household pet since its introduction by European traders in the 16th century. Their docile nature, their responsiveness to handling and feeding, and the relative ease of caring for them, continue to make the guinea pig a popular pet. Organizations devoted to competitive breeding of guinea pigs have been formed worldwide, and many specialized breeds of guinea pig, with varying coat colors and compositions, are cultivated by breeders. The common guinea pig was first domesticated as early as 5000 BC for food by tribes in the Andean region of South America (present-day Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia).[3] Statues dating from ca. 500 BC to 500 AD that depict guinea pigs have been unearthed in archaeological digs in Peru and Ecuador.[4] The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the guinea pig in their art.[5] From ca. 1200 AD to the Spanish conquest in 1532, selective breeding resulted in many varieties of domestic guinea pigs, which form the basis for some of the modern domestic breeds.[6] They continue to be a food source in the region; most households in the Andean highlands raise the animal, which subsists off the family's vegetable scraps.[7] Folklore traditions involving guinea pigs are numerous; they are exchanged as gifts, used in customary social and religious ceremonies, and frequently referenced in spoken metaphors.[8] They also play a role in traditional healing rituals by folk doctors, or curanderos, who use the animals to diagnose diseases such as jaundice, rheumatism, arthritis and typhus.[9] They are rubbed against the bodies of the sick, and are seen as a supernatural medium.[10] Black guinea pigs are considered especially useful for diagnoses.[11] The animal also may be cut open and its entrails examined to determine whether the cure was effective.[12] These methods are widely accepted in many parts of the Andes, where Western medicine is either unavailable or distrusted.[13]
|
Guinea Pig Subcategories
Guinea Pig Articles
|
|
