Cavia tschudii
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The montane guinea pig (Cavia tschudii) is a species of caviid rodent found in the Andes in South America. The montane guinea pig is the likely main ancestor of Cavia porcellus, the domestic guinea pig or domestic cavy, which appears to be a hybrid that includes lesser genetic contributions from other Cavia species.
Peruvian wild guinea pigs were first described by E. T. Bennett in 1835, who termed them Cavia cutleri. J. J. Tschudi, in an 1845 publication, used the term Cavia cutleri to refer to what are now considered two separate species: The first, Bennett's Cavia cutleri, which was later identified (by O. Thomas in 1917) as probably a differently-pigmented version of Cavia porcellus, and the second, a wild Peruvian guinea pig that was clearly different from the animal Bennett described. In 1867, L. Fitzinger renamed the clearly wild guinea pig Cavia tschudii.
The montane guinea pig is a medium-sized species, growing to a total length of 247 mm (9.7 in). Their colour varies in different parts of the range; in Peru, the dorsal fur is dark reddish-brown mixed with black, and the underparts are dark buffy-grey; in Chile, the dorsal surface is pale agouti... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru |
No species of the same family or order lives in Lima, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Montane Guinea Pig sighting in Lima on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, June and August–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Montane Guinea Pig in Lima on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, July and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Montane Guinea Pig sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Lima, in our data
Lima is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Montane Guinea Pig sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Montane Guinea Pig is recorded against all the mammals logged in Lima (9 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
