Guinea Pigs Don't Have a Tail! Why?

[waqark371]

Guinea Pigs Don't Have a Tail! Why Don't They?
Guineas are rodents like rats, mice, and squirrels, who seems to have a pretty long tail.

Here is my theory: Guinea pigs probably had a long and fluffy tail (depending on the breed), but the evolution stole it from them. Just like it it took it away from humans (thank god!). i think in a few decades. hamster might also lose their tail.

What is your theory about the missing guiea pig tail?

 

[Roselina]

That’s interesting ! I think it’s maybe cos guinea pigs don’t usually climb or need a tail for balance and other rodents need their tails for that.

 

[waqark371]

That’s interesting ! I think it’s maybe cos guinea pigs don’t usually climb or need a tail for balance and other rodents need their tails for that.

Thanks for your response.
So, a tailless squirrel would have problem jumping from branch to branch.
Imagine a Peruvian pigelt with a furry tail like a squirrel jumping from your one arm to another and on shoulders and going on the lose in your bedroom. it would mess up your room but it'd be fun.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for your response.
So, a tailless squirrel would have problem jumping from branch to branch.
Imagine a Peruvian pigelt with a furry tail like a squirrel jumping from your one arm to another and on shoulders and going on the lose in your bedroom. it would mess up your room but it'd be fun.

That’s basically a chinchilla! Bouncing bundles of fluffy craziness!

 

[Wiebke]

Guinea Pigs Don't Have a Tail! Why Don't They?
Guineas are rodents like rats, mice, and squirrels, who seems to have a pretty long tail.

Here is my theory: Guinea pigs probably had a long and fluffy tail (depending on the breed), but the evolution stole it from them. Just like it it took it away from humans (thank god!). i think in a few decades. hamster might also lose their tail.

What is your theory about the missing guiea pig tail?

Hi

Unlike other rodents, guinea pigs and their larger cousins, the capybaras (who live in the marshy wetlands of South America), are strictly ground roamers. Guinea pigs live mainly in thick underground and move around established paths in the underground; well insulated and protected from the extremes of weather.

You can see a similar development in Eurasian corresponding ground roaming rodent species, hares and rabbits, who only have the vestiges of a tail; theirs has remained because the white flashes when they move and jump can alert others of their kind of their presence over a distance - especially during mating season. Since guinea pigs live in thick underground in herds (that is the reason why they are so vocal because it is needed to stay in contact when you can just see the piggy walking in front of you) and capybaras browse the grass walking in water in swampy areas, their tails simply had no function whatsoever and were not needed.

This means that guinea pigs do not need a prehensive tail for climbing, like rats, hamsters etc. but they need as much cage space as they can get to run and forage around on the ground. Guinea pigs if left to their own devices can walk twice daily to and from their feeding grounds in the grass for up to a mile as a recent German study has found. They do so as a herd as they are very much a social species although they den in grassy 'tunnels' in the thick underground in little groups in close proximity and can exhibit territorial behaviour.

Our domestic guinea pigs (cavia porcellus) were bred out from one of the 5 wild species living in many parts of South America east of the Andes about 3000-6000 years ago in the central Andes area from the local species, cavia tschudii, as a regular reliable source of protein in the notoriously volatile climate filling the niche that chickens have in many cultures (chickens were only introduced from Europe in the 16th century with the Spanish conquistadores). They played an important role in the pre-conquest ritual community feasts that dominated the Andean cultures both internally and in the way of peaceful diplomatic interaction.

Here is more information on guinea pigs as a species:
Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs

 

[waqark371]

Hi

Unlike other rodents, guinea pigs and their larger cousins, the capybaras who live in the marshy wetlands of South America, are strictly ground roamers.
This means that they do not need a prehensive tail for climbing, like rats, hamsters etc. but they need as much cage space as they can get to run and forage around on the ground. Guinea pigs if left to their own devices can walk twice daily to and from their feeding grounds in the grass for up to a mile as a recent German study has found. They do so as a herd as they are very much a social species.

You can see a similar development in Eurasian corresponding ground roaming rodent species, hares and rabbits, who only have the vestiges of a tail but without any practical function and it is likely that their tail may eventally disappear completely, too, as they develop further.

Here is more information on guinea pigs as a species:
Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview
Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs

Thanks THis is crazy informative.
Can you please provide link to the German Study you mentioned?
Do guinea pigs still exist in the wild?
It is hard to believe that Capybaras and guinea pigs are related. I mean look at their size. and Guinea pigs hate water. I did a google search to find that they are closely related. Still hard to believe. Evolution!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks THis is crazy informative.
Can you please provide link to the German Study you mentioned?
Do guinea pigs still exist in the wild?
It is hard to believe that Capybaras and guinea pigs are related. I mean look at their size. and Guinea pigs hate water. I did a google search to find that they are closely related. Still hard to believe. Evolution!

Hi
Sorry, I've unfortunately lost the link to the German study. But it shows that while domesticated guinea pigs have changed and adapted to a different, smaller and more complex environment, the basic instincts and way of life are still there.

Domestic guinea pigs have smaller brains (less taxi driver territorial map data storage needed) but they are much better at creative problem solving to adapt in a complex human orientated environment. They no longer have a distinct breeding season between spring and summer (although our boys can still get a bit rampant in Spring, when the hormones kick in) and they are more flexible in terms of their group sizes and - especially in larger groups with plenty of space - will tolerate more boars in their group, whereas wild guinea pigs are VERY hierarchical in small groups and can be very territorial about their denning area and access to sows (although it is the sows who choose which male they want to associate and breed with).
You can find more about social guinea pig life and development in the links in my first post, which you may find very interesting. Sadly, research into domestic and wild guinea pigs is still very scant on the ground and only starting to take off now.

Here is a little more about the still existing wild guinea pig species:
One of them (cavia intermedia) is on the brink of existinction; it is only found on a small island on the southern tip of Brazil. ADW: Cavia: CLASSIFICATION
You can find more about the distribution and the status of the various wild species via this link here: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

 

[waqark371]

Hi
Sorry, I've unfortunately lost the link to the German study. But it shows that while domesticated guinea pigs have changed and adapted to a different, smaller and more complex environment, the basic instincts and way of life are still there.

Domestic guinea pigs have smaller brains (less taxi driver territorial map data storage needed) but they are much better at creative problem solving to adapt in a complex human orientated environment. They no longer have a distinct breeding season between spring and summer (although our boys can still get a bit rampant in Spring, when the hormones kick in) and they are more flexible in terms of their group sizes and - especially in larger groups with plenty of space - will tolerate more boars in their group, whereas wild guinea pigs are VERY hierarchical in small groups and can be very territorial about their denning area and access to sows (although it is the sows who choose which male they want to associate and breed with).
You can find more about social guinea pig life and development in the links below.

Here is a little more about the still existing wild guinea pig species:
One of them (cavia intermedia) is on the brink of existinction; it is only found on a small island on the southern tip of Brazil. ADW: Cavia: CLASSIFICATION
You can find more about the distribution and the status of the various wild species via this link here: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

You are very knowledgeable and helpful.
Thanks for sahring your knowledge. I'll be checking the shared links.

 

[VickiA]

@waqark371 do you have piggies of your own?

 

[waqark371]

@waqark371 do you have piggies of your own?

Unfortunately, No.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks THis is crazy informative.
Can you please provide link to the German Study you mentioned?
Do guinea pigs still exist in the wild?
It is hard to believe that Capybaras and guinea pigs are related. I mean look at their size. and Guinea pigs hate water. I did a google search to find that they are closely related. Still hard to believe. Evolution!

When you look past the size difference and the long legs that Capybaras have because of their lifestyle, you won't find them all that different. They have both adapted perfectly to their own niche, like their more remote cousins, the chinchillas (another South American rodent) to their mountaineous one. Cabybaras are the largest rodents.

The South American rodents are biologically quite a different branch of rodents from the Eurasian ones because of
the long separation and the divergent evolution. In Australia, you will find that many of same biological niches are filled by small marsupials.

 

[Freela]

Just chiming in to add that hamsters are unlikely to lose their little stub tail to evolution anytime soon because there is no disadvantage to having the tail. Generally the traits that are bred out are the traits that reduce the likelihood that an animal survives to breeding age, thus those genes are passed along less often. But all things being equal, the tail isn't compromising the breeding success of the hamster, so it will stick around. Which is good, I'm kind of fond of the little useless stubby tail on my hamsters, it's cute!

 

[waqark371]

Let's hope they don't.
I kind of like the tails as well. Too bad guinea pigs dont have them. But then I think it's kind of a blessing in disguise given that our piggies are always pooping

 

[Wiebke]

Let's hope they don't.
I kind of like the tails as well. Too bad guinea pigs dont have them. But then I think it's kind of a blessing in disguise given that our piggies are always pooping

Since you haven't got guinea pigs you also haven't been able to discover the pleasure of a nice big round bum nestling in your hand or the crook of your arm without a tail getting in the way or in your face!

 

[waqark371]

Since you haven't got guinea pigs you also haven't been able to discover the pleasure of a nice big round bum nestling in your hand or the crook of your arm without a tail getting in the way or in your face!

I need to get a pair so badly

 

[Wiebke]

I need to get a pair so badly

Better do your research first and and also read up on sexing and all the other pitfalls that guinea pigs come with; especially in unregulated parts of the world. Also consider whether you can give them enough protection in really hot weather.

 

[waqark371]

Better do your research first and and also read up on sexing and all the other pitfalls that guinea pigs come with; especially in unregulated parts of the world. Also consider whether you can give them enough protection in really hot weather.

weather is a big concern. That's why it is hard to find guinea pigs in Pakistans, I guess, I'll end up getting a pair of hamsters.
I'm learning. I was learning various guinea pig sounds the other day. and I discovered popcorning the other day

 

[Freela]

weather is a big concern. That's why it is hard to find guinea pigs in Pakistans, I guess, I'll end up getting a pair of hamsters.
I'm learning. I was learning various guinea pig sounds the other day. and I discovered popcorning the other day

Just so you know, hamsters (Syrian hamsters particularly) are solitary animals. Don't get a pair of hamsters expecting them to live together- they will fight to the point of injury or even death. You can have two or more hamsters, but you need to house them in completely separate cages (pretty sure that even though we usually have two hamsters at a time, they each think they are the only hamster. They have such little contact that they have no idea there is even another hamster in the house!) You will sometimes see hamsters housed together in pet stores, but they only tolerate this as very young animals with their sibling group. They won't share housing peacefully when they are older.