The Guinea Pig has been domesticated for over 5,000 years (please see article below). It’s no secret that domestication can radically change an animal’s appearance – most taxonomists now consider the Domestic Dog to be a subspecies of the Gray Wolf, and not a distinct species – but you’d never guess that when viewing a Maltese and a Wolf side-by-side! Read More »
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Tag Archives: cavies
Feed SubscriptionThe Guinea Pig or Cavy – Wild Ancestors and History in Captivity
When the Spanish conquistadors breached the Andes Mountains and entered Peru, they found that the Inca people were breeding an animal unlike any that had ever been seen in Europe. The wild ancestor of these rodents, later christened guinea pigs or cavies, was lost in antiquity, as cavies had been domesticated as a food source 5,000 or more years earlier. Read More »