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. Its karyotype has 2n = 68 and FN = 136. G. musteloides is the most common and widely found member of Galea, and is present at elevations ranging from 20 to 5000 m above sea level. It has yellow teeth.
A recent study reveals there are five subspecies of G. musteloides : boliviensis, demissa, leucoblephara, littoralis and musteloides. These are recognized on the basis of pelage coloration, size and shape of skull, auditory bullae size and tooth shape. The species is found within a range from southern Peru to central Argentina. Evidence is mounting that the lowland form of G. musteloides is an independent species and should be called G. leucoblephara. It is a “diurnal herbivore of squirrel size that lives in groups and occupies open habitat.”
Female and male common yellow-toothed cavies average 37.6 g and 36.4 g at birth, respectively. G. musteloides reproduces for the first time at one to three months of age; the minimum age needed to reproduce is twenty-eight days. Gestation lasts fifty-three days and lactation for three weeks. Litter size averages 2.7.
In Peru, Galea sometimes associates with tuco-tucos (Ctenomys ). According to Sanborn and Pearson, Galea use tuco-tuco burrows and respond to tuco-tuco alarm calls. G. musteloides is mostly found in moist areas such as stream edges and croplands.
In captive groups G. musteloides establish a male and a female hierarchical order. The alpha males regularly guard receptive females, but to little effect. Usually other males also mate with the same female and in more than 80% of cases the resulting littermates have more than one father. At least in captivity the females are clearly promiscuous, always mating with several males in the group. In the wild G. musteloides is clearly territorial, and it remains unclear if a similar hierarchical social order exists, or if they live solitarily. Aggression between adult males happens regularly. Adult male G. musteloides never engage in parental activities and are aggressive to subadult males even if they are their own offspring and very young. However, males are not aggressive to females. Adult females lactate and nurse the offspring of other females during their first week of life. Nearly all offspring receive some milk from females other than their mother. However, own offspring is cared for preferentially and for longer than one week.
As closely related Galea species show a range of mating systems from monogamy to promiscuity, comparative studies are possible in these groups. General trends have been identified: a) testis size increases relative to body size in promiscuous species and b) higher social tolerance in captive held groups is associated with greater promiscuity and higher testosterone levels in males. Testosterone levels and aggression levels in males are not correlated. In fact females avoid above average aggressive males.
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
A territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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ColonialColonial animals live in large aggregations composed of two or more conspecific individuals in close association with or connected to, one another....
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...