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Tagsgeneral-guinea-pigsbeginner-questions
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Niklas
2018-04-13 18:34

Are guinea pigs really pigs?

Image 1. Click to open in original size.

Are guinea pigs related to pigs or is that just their name? They dont look much like pigs.

(Photo by Christopher Carson at Unsplash)


Best regards, Niklas 🎈

  • Edited by Niklas 2021-09-28 11:38
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Emmy
2018-04-15 13:59
#1

No, they are in fact not related to normal pigs, even though their name suggests so.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia, which explains it more thoroughly;

"Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family Suidae, nor do they come from Guinea in Africa; they originated in the Andes of South America and studies based on biochemistry and hybridization suggest they are domestic, not wild, descendants of a closely related species of cavy such as C. tschudii."

Their wild ancestors are unknown.

- Emmy

Hostess of Guinea Pig Savvity

Niklas
2018-04-15 14:07
#2

So a more suitable name would be Andes Cavy. ;-)


Best regards, Niklas 🎈

Emmy
2018-04-17 09:58
#3

Yes, or something like that. :)

- Emmy

Hostess of Guinea Pig Savvity

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