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Common agouti

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

   iCommon Agoutis

                            Fossil range: Recent

   Dasyprocta leporina
   Dasyprocta leporina
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Mammalia
   Order:   Rodentia
   Family:  Dasyproctidae
   Genus:   Dasyprocta
            Illiger, 1811

                                   Species

   at least 11, as listed by IUCN

   The popular term (common) agouti designates several rodent species of
   the genus Dasyprocta. They are related to guinea pigs and look quite
   similar, but their legs are elongated.

   Confusingly, the related pacas belong to a genus called Agouti, and are
   sometimes placed in a separate family called Agoutidae or the subfamily
   Agoutinae. To avoid misunderstandings, some authors refer to the pacas
   as the genus Cuniculus.

   Agoutis have five front and three hind toes; the first toe is very
   small. The tail is very short or non-existent. The molar teeth have
   cylindrical crowns, with several islands and a single lateral fold of
   enamel. Agoutis may grow to be up to 60 cm in length and 4 kg in
   weight. Most species have a brown back and a whitish or buffy belly;
   the fur may have a glossy appearance and then glimmers in an orange
   colour. They are active at day. In the wild they are shy animals and
   flee from humans, while in captivity they may become trusting.

   When feeding, agoutis sit on their hind legs and hold food between
   their forepaws. They feed on fruit and other parts of plants. Sometimes
   they can cause damage to sugarcane and banana plantations. They are
   regarded as the only species that can open Brazil nuts, mainly thanks
   to their strength and exceptionally sharp teeth. (Note - Capuchin
   monkeys are recently reported to also eat them, after using a stone as
   an anvil.) Their habitat includes rainforests, savannas and, nowadays,
   cultivated fields, depending on the species. They conceal themselves at
   night in hollow tree-trunks, or in burrows among roots. Active and
   graceful in their movements, their pace is either a kind of trot or a
   series of springs following one another so rapidly as to look like a
   gallop. They take readily to water, in which they swim well.

   Agoutis give birth to litters of two to four young. They can live for
   as long as twenty years, a remarkably long time for a rodent.

Species

   Drawing of an agouti
   Enlarge
   Drawing of an agouti
     * Azara's Agouti, Dasyprocta azarae
     * Coiban Agouti, Dasyprocta coibae
     * Crested Agouti, Dasyprocta cristata
     * Black Agouti, Dasyprocta fuliginosa
     * Orinoco Agouti, Dasyprocta guamara
     * Kalinowski Agouti, Dasyprocta kalinowskii
     * Brazilian Agouti, Dasyprocta leporina
     * Mexican Agouti, Dasyprocta mexicana
     * Black-rumped Agouti, Dasyprocta prymnolopha
     * Central American Agouti, Dasyprocta punctata
     * Ruatan Island Agouti, Dasyprocta ruatanica

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_agouti"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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