The impact of domestication on Guinea pig
By Stig K.Jensen
Domestication is a gradual
transformation process where wild animals are taken into captivity of
humans.Not all animals can be domesticated,and some take longer time
than others to adapt to their life under human care and captivity.
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| Phylum: |
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| Class: |
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| Family: |
Caviidae |
| Genus: |
Cavia |
For guinea pigs it was seen during an experiment that even after 30 generations in captivity ,there was absolutely no change from the original wild guinea pigs.
To become domestic animals a long-term genetic change is needed,wich happens because the selection is no longer natural.It is no longer the most dominant and strong Guinea pig that will survive,but rather the more docile,cuddly ones wich meet the human needs for a nice and non-biting pet.During this process they start differing in behaviour,physiology and morphology from their wild ancestors.
The common guinea pig was first domesticated in about 2000 BC for food
by the mountain Tribes, in the Andean region of South America, in what
is now Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. They continue to be a food source
in the region, subsisting off a family's vegetable scraps as a half
pet/half future meal. They also play the role of evil-spirit collector
in traditional healing rituals. The Incas sacrificed 1,000 white guinea
pigs along with 100 llamas in each July "so that neither the sun
nor the waters would harm the food and the fields."
From the beginning of the Spanish colonization, the Catholic Church brutally suppressed Indian religious icons. But the guinea pig was fortunately spared.
The first guinea pig was described in 1554 by the Swisss naturalist Konrad Gesner ,but not registered as a species before 1758 by Linnaeus in his zoological record.
The animals are not pigs, but the sounds they make reminded people of pigs. They are also built somewhat like a pig, with a large head relative to the body, a stout neck, and a rounded rump with no tail.
The German word for them is Meerschweinchen,wich means "Little Sea Pigs” ,wich is beacause they were brought to Germany on ships as a food source. In norway they are called marsvin ,which is a mix of the latin word MARE =sea and the norwegian word SVIN= swine.
The scientfic name CAVIA PORCELLUS is latin for ”little pig˝.
The scientific name for the most common species is Cavia porcellus, with porcellus being Latin for "little pig". They are popularly called "cavies".
Despite their common name they don’t come from Guinea,but Brittish sailors brought them from South America to Britain, through the Port of Guinea, West Africa. There are from six to nine different species wich have many different origins, the one most familiar to people is C. porcellus, the common guinea pig..
- Cavia anolaimae
- Cavia aperea – Brazilian Guinea pig: widespread east of the Andes
- Cavia fulgida – Shiny Guinea pig: eastern Brazil
- Cavia guianae
- Cavia intermedia – Intermediate Guinea pig: Moleques do Sul islands, Santa Catarina, Brazil, first described in 1999
- Cavia magna – Greater Guinea pig: Uruguay, south-east Brazil
- Cavia nana
- Cavia porcellus – Domestic Guinea pig: wild ancestor unknown
- Cavia tschudii – Montane Guinea pig: Peru and north-west Argentina
They come in many colours, including Black, White, Red, Buff/Cream (blonde), Chocolate and Beige The fur of the wild pigs is generally courser and longer than domestic short-hair breeds, though it is mostly shorter and straighter than the various long-hair and other of the more fancy breeds. There is much less color variations in the wild guinea pigs.They tend to be uniformly grey or brown and may be considered most similar in appearance to some of the solid "agouti" varieties
Guinea pigs are found on grassy plains and occupy an ecological niche
similar to that of the cow. They move together in small groups (herds)
of 5-10 animals eating grass or whatever other plants they come across.
They are crepuscular, wich means that they tend to be most active during
dawn and dusk, when it is harder for predators to spot them. If they
sense danger they can run for cover with surprising speed.In an experiment
on wild guinea pigs it was found that Maximal escape speeds of
adults averaged 4.12 m/sec, peak velocity measured was 6.0 m/sec. Young
animals could only run ca 2.5 m/sec, and reached
adult levels (about 4.0 m/sec) when only 20 days old. Adults reach a
top weight of about 700 grams.
Unlike many rodents such as rats, mice, or squirrels, Guinea pigs are not very athletic. Jumping gaps, climbing, and fearlessness in the face of heights were not skills Guinea pigs needed in their environment, although they can hop over small obstacles with agility. When excited, Guinea pigs tend to do little jumps in the air (known as "popcorning"). Even so, they may sometimes climb stairs if they need to.Most guinea pig owners have probably seen the "popcorning" jumps after the animal has consumed a nice meal ,or has recently been given attention. A guinea pig that "popcorns" is feeling full of energy, or is very pleased.
Guinea pigs are pregnant for 68-72 days(long for such a small animal)
and give birth to generally between one and four pups, but may be as
many as seven well developed furry pups.Males are not known to attack
their own pups. However, females can become pregnant in less than 12
hours after giving birth, so a pregnant sow should not be housed with
a fertile male.Up to half the litter may be lost in larger litters,because
the mother cannot attend to all the newborns. As younger males
in the group become sexually mature the males threaten each other by
hissing and rattling their teeth and fights occur. Weaker males are
driven from the group, and usually take with them a female to start
their own group elsewhere. The females in the group develop a dominance
hierarchy.
Guinea pigs cannot synthetise their own C-vitamin and must obtain this
from their diet,otherwise they might get scurvy and die.This is something
wich is special for Guina pigs and humans,unlike all other mammals,and
this similarity is the reason why Guinea pigs are known test animals
for scientific research.
"Guinea pig" is often used as a metaphor for a subject of scientific experimentation. This notion persists even though guinea pigs are no longer commonly used as modern experimental animals. In the past they had been used to isolate different bacterial strains, but in modern labs they have been replaced by mice and rats, which reproduce more quickly.
While grassing they also can obtain raw fruits and vegetables found on the ground,wich is a good source for Vit.C. What many guinea pig owners fail to realize is that gras is an addition to their diet,and not a substitution for vegetables.They should be given large amounts of gras.Guinea pigs are smaller and have a shorter digestive system than other grass eating animals,so the digestion takes place in a special manner called coprophagy=they eat their own feces.This contains B-vitamins and bacteria needed for proper digestion.
Guinea pigs as food
As food, the guinea pig is described as a combination of rabbit and the
dark meat on chicken,
though in colour, taste, and the fineness of bones the gourmet will
be reminded of quail. It is high in protein (21%) and low in fat (8%),this
means that it has more proteins and less fat than poultry,pork and beef
!
Due to the fact that they require much less room than traditional livestock and reproduce extremely quickly when compared to traditional stock animals, they can be raised as a source of food in an urban environment—unlike most western livestock animals.Breeding them requires little capital, equipment, space and labor, and give an inexpensive, high quality meat. This is why they would be a very good alternative food source for the starving people in Afrika.The meat would be a valuable supplement in the diet of the people suffering from protein deficiency.Although most people from developed countries would surtenly think that eating these cute little creatures is a terrible thing to do.There even exists guinea pig rights foundations that go into great efforts to save the animals. On 24 August 2005 Darley Oaks Farm in England announced that it was ceasing breeding guinea pigs for scientific research and animal testing, after a campaign by the Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs animal rights group, that had protests and attacks, including death threats, and arson.
A small community
of researchers have tried to introduce guinea pigs as a food source
in Cameroon,West-Afrika ,but due to lack of
information about this activity it has not yet spread around the other
regions of Afrika. The rearing of guinea pigs on small farms in Latin
America has even been shown to be more profitable than the rearing of
either pigs or dairy cows,wich comes to show that this is not a food source to be underestimated.
With 20 breeding females and 2 males, a family of 6 can be provided
with a year-round adequate supply of nutritious
and tasty meat.
The guinea pigs are happy with beeing fed with agricultural by-products like plant trimmings,plantains,peelings from yams etc.Their B and K vitamin requirement is met by the coprophagy,and C-vitamins is a cheap supplement needed among their diet.
Conclusion:
Domesticated Guinea pigs have developed a different rhythm, and have longer periods of activity followed by short periods of sleep in between. Activity is scattered randomly over the 24 hours of the day,comparably to their wild counterparts.This is one of the reasons that they are so popular to keep as pets compared to many other rodents that either sleep all day or breed to heavily. Guinea pigs who become familiar with their human seem to consider them part of their herd, and become lonely and afraid when separated for longer periods.
The domesticated animals show much less aggression, but are more positvely social towards both humans and other guinea pigs,but they were not as good as the wild guinea pigs in sensing changes in their physical environment.They had reduced alertness and sensitivty,wich is because these are traits that are selected away during artificial selection.Nobody wants to have a hyperactive,nervous and hypersensitive pet.
The wild guinea pigs are more exploring and curious than the domesticated ones,and also more agressive and much responsiveness to stress.This is because the stress hormones cortisol,epinephrine and norepinephrine is in higher level in the blood of wild guinea pigs. They showed much less courtship behaviour
A research showed
that even after 30 generations on rearing of a wild guinea pig,it did not result in any behavioural difference between the
first and the 30.th generation ,wich proved that it takes much longer
periods of time and artificial selection by humans to introduce characters
of domestication into wild animals.
The difference
in apperance is seen mostly by the uniform colours of the wild guinea
pigs-beeing only grey and brown,compared to
the domestic ones wich can many varieties in colors. The wild pigs have
longer and a more rigid haircoat ,serving as good insulation
against rain and cold in their natural habitats.Some domestic species(picture)
have a long coat,but more as a decorative trait through artificial selection.
Reference:
http://www.comfycavies.com/Info/History/History.htm
http://cavyhistory.tripod.com/