biology

List of caviids

List of caviids is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of caviids rather than just read about it. In short: Caviidae is a family of mammals in the order Rodentia and part of the Caviomorpha parvorder. Members of this family are called caviids and include guinea pigs, cavies, maras, and capybaras.

Key takeaways

List of caviids belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of caviids to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of caviids from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Caviidae is a family of mammals in the order Rodentia and part of the Caviomorpha parvorder. Members of this family are called caviids and include guinea pigs, cavies, maras, and capybaras. They are found in South America and the southeast tip of Central America, primarily in forests, shrublands, grasslands, and savannas, though some species can be found in wetlands or rocky areas. They range in size from Shipton's mountain cavy, at 19 cm (7 in), to the capybara, at 134 cm (53 in) plus a 2 cm (1 in) tail. Caviids are herbivores and eat a wide variety of vegetation, primarily grass and leaves. Almost no caviids have population estimates, though the Santa Catarina's guinea pig is categorized as critically endangered with a population of fewer than sixty mature adults, and the domesticated guinea pig has a population of over 36 million, not including a large worldwide population as pets. The twenty-one extant species of Caviidae are divided into three subfamilies: Caviinae, containing fifteen species of guinea pigs and cavies in three genera; Dolichotinae, containing a single genus of two mara species; and Hydrochoerinae, containing four capybara and cavy species in two genera. A few extinct prehistoric caviid species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries, the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the caviid's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted.

Classification

Caviidae is a family consisting of twenty-one extant species in six genera. These genera are divided between three subfamilies: Caviinae, containing guinea pigs and cavies; Dolichotinae, or the maras; and Hydrochoerinae, containing capybara and cavy species. Family Caviidae

Subfamily Caviinae Genus Cavia (guinea pigs): seven species Genus Galea (yellow-toothed cavies): five species Genus Microcavia (mountain cavies): three species Subfamily Dolichotinae Genus Dolichotis (maras): two species Subfamily Hydrochoerinae Genus Hydrochoerus (capybaras): two species Genus Kerodon (rock cavies): two species

Caviids The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Subfamily Caviinae

Subfamily Dolichotinae

Subfamily Hydrochoerinae

References

Sources

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of caviids

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of caviids claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of caviids before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of caviids ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of caviids

In research: List of caviids appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of caviids in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of caviids is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cavies, Lists of animal species, Lists of rodents, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of caviids outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of caviids in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of caviids means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of caviids out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of caviids in simple terms?

Caviidae is a family of mammals in the order Rodentia and part of the Caviomorpha parvorder. Members of this family are called caviids and include guinea pigs, cavies, maras, and capybaras.

Why does List of caviids matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of caviids?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of caviids.