Caviidae

Caviidae, the cavy family, is composed of rodents native to South America and includes the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the largest living rodent, the capybara. They are found across South America in open areas from moist savanna to thorn forests or scrub desert. This family of rodents has fewer members than most other rodent families, with 19 species in seven genera in three subfamilies.

Caviidae

Wilfredor · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CavioideaPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.5 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 20.45 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 126 of 487 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 150 of 487 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 169 of 487 occurrencesPleistocene21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 9 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 12 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 12 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 12 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–9.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.8–9.1 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.1–8.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 9 occurrences7.7–7.0 Mya — about 15 occurrences7.0–6.3 Mya — about 17 occurrences6.3–5.6 Mya — about 17 occurrences5.6–4.9 Mya — about 21 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 43 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 42 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 42 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 19 occurrences2.1–1.4 Mya — about 16 occurrences1.4–698 ka Mya — about 16 occurrences698 ka–0 Mya — about 167 occurrences15.5 Mya11.7 ka20.9 Mya0 Mya

487 occurrences of Caviidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

487 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

80 formations

Monte Hermoso — 38.00°S, 61.00°WMonte Hermoso — 38.92°S, 61.55°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WVillavieja — 3.25°N, 75.17°WVillavieja — 3.32°N, 75.13°WVillavieja — 3.26°N, 75.18°WVillavieja — 3.23°N, 75.14°WVillavieja — 3.21°N, 75.26°WCerro Azul — 38.74°S, 62.21°WCerro Azul — 38.70°S, 62.26°WCerro Azul — 35.69°S, 64.67°WCerro Azul — 36.25°S, 65.51°WCerro Azul — 38.76°S, 62.16°WCerro Azul — 37.37°S, 65.47°WCerro Azul — 35.92°S, 64.87°WCerro Azul — 37.14°S, 65.77°WCerro Azul — 36.68°S, 64.18°WCerro Azul — 36.70°S, 64.28°WIrene — 38.60°S, 60.61°WIrene — 38.67°S, 60.60°WIrene — 38.83°S, 60.54°WIrene — 38.54°S, 60.61°WAndalhuala — 26.68°S, 66.03°WAndalhuala — 27.22°S, 66.93°WAndalhuala — 26.98°S, 66.22°WAndalhuala — 26.68°S, 65.92°WSopas — 30.43°S, 56.45°WSopas — 31.25°S, 57.00°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WChiquimil — 26.80°S, 66.07°WChiquimil — 27.22°S, 66.93°WChiquimil — 27.11°S, 66.83°WChapadmalal — 38.12°S, 57.70°WPuerto Belgrano — 38.98°S, 61.82°WLa Victoria — 2.12°N, 75.92°WLa Victoria — 3.20°N, 75.20°WLa Victoria — 3.37°N, 75.15°WLa Victoria — 3.35°N, 75.14°WNuapua — 20.75°S, 63.07°WNuapua — 20.87°S, 63.07°WLujan — 38.57°S, 58.70°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WLujan — 38.75°S, 60.60°WWando — 32.88°N, 80.10°WWando — 32.82°N, 80.03°WWando — 33.08°N, 79.94°WWando — 33.11°N, 79.95°WArroyo Chasicó — 38.62°S, 62.98°WArroyo Chasicó — 38.60°S, 62.50°WSan Andres — 38.18°S, 57.67°WSan Andres — 38.12°S, 57.70°WBrochero — 31.70°S, 65.03°WBrochero — 31.92°S, 64.57°WBrochero — 32.69°S, 64.72°WTouro Passo — 29.68°S, 56.86°WTouro Passo — 29.65°S, 56.87°WEpecuén — 37.22°S, 63.55°WLa Huertita — 34.91°S, 68.50°WSolimoes — 10.93°S, 69.92°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WBotucatu — 29.57°S, 51.63°WBotucatu — 29.77°S, 50.55°WBotucatu — 29.56°S, 51.40°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WSalicas — 28.33°S, 66.95°WSalicas — 28.33°S, 66.99°W

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The named rock units Caviidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 56 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 164 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Caviidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Caviidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

2,163 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 247 sites for Caviidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

190 references

Each of the 487 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 178 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Caviidae

Credit
Wilfredor
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCavioidea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1821