Abstract
This chapter discusses the external anatomy, musculoskeletal system, and behavior of the guinea pigs. The domestic guinea pig is a descendant of the wild cavy (Cavia aperea), which is a common rodent in South America. It is a nonburrowing, herbivorous, crepuscular, hystricomorph (porcupine-like) rodent with a stocky body, short neck and limbs, and with either no tail or a vestigial one. This rodent is more closely related to chinchillas and porcupines than to mice and rats. The adult male weighs between 900 and 1200 gm and the smaller female weighs between 700 and 900 gm, except during pregnancy. Their lifespan ranges from 2–8 years with the breeding female having the shorter lifespan. The hair consists of large guard hair and a finer hair undercoat. The ear has cartilaginous and osseous sections, and the nose is a triangular shaped structure, which consists of two nares with hairless perimeters. Both the male and female guinea pigs have a single pair of mammary nipples located in the inguinal area. The skeletal system consists of the axial portion (head, hyoid apparatus, ribs and sternum, vertebrae); the appendicular portion, consisting of the pectoral and pelvic girdles and limbs; and the heterotopic portion, which includes the os penis and sesmoids. Wild cavies of the genus Cavia are social animals that live in small groups of 5–10 in burrows or crevice shelters. In wild cavies neither sex is known to maintain an exclusive territory, but scent marking by secretions of the anal and supracaudal glands and urine to delineate territory has been documented elsewhere in domesticated guinea pigs.
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