Caviinae

Caviinae Fossil range: Late Miocene - Recent
Cavia porcellus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Caviidae Subfamily: Caviinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Genera
†Neoprocavia †Allocavia †Palaeocavia †Neocavia †Dolicavia †Macrocavia †Caviops †Pascualia Galea Microcavia Cavia

Caviinae is a subfamily uniting all living members of the family Caviidae with the exception of the maras, capybaras and Kerodon. The subfamily traditionally contained the guinea pig-like forms along with the cursorially (running) adapted Kerodon. Molecular results suggest that the Caviinae as so defined would be paraphyletic and that Kerodon is more closely related to maras and capybaras than to other caviines (Rowe and Honeycutt, 2002). This led Woods and Kilpatrick (2005) to unite Kerodon and capybaras into the subfamily Hydrochoerinae within the Caviidae. These studies also suggest that Microcavia and Cavia are more closely related to one another than either is to Galea.

Genera and species

• Subfamily Caviinae
  • †Neoprocavia
  • †Allocavia
  • †Palaeocavia
  • †Neocavia
  • †Dolicavia
  • †Macrocavia
  • †Caviops
  • †Pascualia
  • Galea - yellow-toothed cavies
    • Galea flavidens - Brandt's Yellow-toothed Cavy (may be an invalid species)
    • Galea monasteriensis
    • Galea musteloides - Common Yellow-toothed Cavy
    • Galea spixii - Spix's Yellow-toothed Cavy
  • Microcavia - mountain cavies
    • Microcavia australis - Southern Mountain Cavy
    • Microcavia niata - Andean Mountain Cavy
    • Microcavia shiptoni - Shipton's Mountain Cavy
  • Cavia - guinea pigs
    • Cavia aperea - Brazilian Guinea Pig
    • Cavia fulgida - Shiny Guinea Pig
    • Cavia intermedia - Intermediate Guinea Pig
    • Cavia magna - Greater Guinea Pig
    • Cavia porcellus - Domestic Guinea Pig
    • Cavia tschudii - Montane Guinea Pig

References

• Duff, A. and A. Lawson. 2004. Mammals of the World A Checklist. New Haven, Yale University Press.
• McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. ISBN 0-231-11013-8
• Rowe, D. L. and R. L. Honeycutt. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships, ecological correlates, and molecular evolution within the Cavioidea (Mammalia, Rodentia). Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19:263-277.
• Woods, C. A. and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. Infraorder Hystricognathi. Pp 1538-1600 in Mammal Species of the World A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds.). Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.

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