Where Guinea Pigs Came From: The Montane Guinea Pig

We've talked a bit about guinea pig history in the past. You may remember that guinea pigs had a giant ancestor called Josephoartigasia monesi about 4 - 2 million years ago, and that we were eventually domesticated and began showing up in Peruvian art around 200 AD. Between those two times, we had a wild ancestor that we were most likely domesticated from called the Montane guinea pig (Cavia tschudii), also known as Tschudi's Cavy or cuy silvestre in Spanish. Unlike that giant ancestor, the Montane guinea pig is still around today:

A black and white photo of one from 1964. (Source) Looks like he's about to wheek about something.

Artwork by Ed Stauffacher. (Source) Looks like he's on the move for food.

Image from Foobie. (Source) Looks like he's wondering what that human with the camera is up to.

Here's a video of a trapped Montane guinea pig in Tanti, Argentina. He doesn't seem to like being in a cage, and the boy lets him out at the end.

Although we look very similar to the Montane guinea pig, "the domestic guinea pig has a somewhat more pointed, narrower skull that the wild tschudii." The Montaine guinea pig can be found in Peru, Chile, and Argentina, and the coloration varies by location: "in Peru the dorsal fur is dark reddish-brown mixed with black, and the underparts are dark buffy-grey; in Chile the dorsal surface is pale agouti brown with paler underparts; in Bolivia, the upper parts are agouti olive and the underparts creamy-white or white." When you look at some of the above examples, you can see the color differences and might be able to guess where they're from.

If you're ever in Peru, Chile or Argentina, say hi to our adorable living ancestor for us!

Guinea Pig History: Guinea Pig Art in Europe

We've made several posts on guinea pig history, in which we've talked about the journey of guinea pigs.

• We started out in South America, and had some giant ancestors there. We got domesticated, and started showing up in ancient Peruvian art around 200 AD. 
• Guinea pigs then started showing up in Europe in the 1500's, including in Conrad Gessner's Historiae Animalium in 1553, and painted portraits in 1580. 
• Our next stop in guinea pig history comes shortly after this, when a European artist named Joris Hoefnagel first depicted guinea pigs in the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, etc.) in 1592.

Joris Hoefnagel was a Netherlander who lived from 1542 to 1601. He was born to wealthy merchant parents, and traveled around Europe with them in his youth, drawing his experiences. While working in Munich, he was commissioned to produce a four-volume book on natural history. The book is known as the Four Elements, and each volume is named after a different element: Animalia rationalia et insecta (ignis); Animalia quadrupedia et reptilia (terra) ; Animalia aquatilia et conchiliata (aqua); and Animalia volatilia et amphibia (aier). Guinea pigs appeared in the earth (terra) volume (right next to porcupines):

Don't let those porcupines poke you, guinea pig! [Caption reads: "Plate 48 of the Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra) from 1592 by Hoefnagel (copyright National Gallery of Art Washington)" (source)]

If I was that guinea pig, I would jump down from that branch and eat that melon!

Guinea Pig History: Conrad Gessner and Historiae Animalium

It's time for another guinea pig history lesson! Today, we're going to be talking about an important human in guinea pig history named Conrad Gessner.

Conrad Gessner was a Swiss naturalist who lived from 1516 to 1565. One of his greatest accomplishments was writing his five-volume Historiae Animalium ("Histories of the Animals") in 1551–58 and 1587 (the last one published posthumously). There were over 4,500 pages between all five volumes, and it was considered the beginning of modern zoology. The purpose of this book series was to catalog everything known about animals at that time.

Interestingly, Gessner included animals from many sources, including religion and folklore such as unicorns. This led to the inclusion of many animals that aren't real, but Gessner tried to distinguish between what he thought were real and imaginary animals in his text. It was in Gessner's Historiae Animalium that guinea pigs were first described to the Western world in 1554. (As we previously mentioned, the Moche people of ancient Peru were already familiar with guinea pigs far earlier than this. However, in Europe, the earliest known portrait of a guinea pig is from 1580.)

Here is Gessner's artwork for guinea pigs in his Historiae Animalium:

Caption: "Guinea pig, from Conrad Gesner (Swiss, 1516-1565), Historia animalium (vol. 1, De Quadrupedibus viviparos), 1553, Woodcut. Los Angeles, Research Library, the Getty Research Institute."

Gessner had a pair of guinea pigs that were given to him, but he also cited the descriptions and photographs of others in his book for the sake of completeness.

Even though he lived in an era where the existence of unicorns couldn't be completely discounted yet, it sounds to us like Gessner did his best to put out the most accurate information on animals he could, including guinea pigs.

You might say that Gessner was the guinea pig blogger of his day!

Guinea Pig History: Cavies in the Moche Valley

I hope everyone's ready for another guinea pig history lesson! We've already shared guinea pig art from Europe in 1580 and 1615. Here's some art that is not a painting, is not from Europe, and is much earlier than those other two:

Caption: "Moche Guinea Pig ca. 200 A.D. at the Larco Museum in Lima, Peru" (Original source.)

The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD. Wikipedia says: "The Moche people of ancient Peru worshiped animals and often depicted the guinea pig in their art." This kind of makes it sound like the Moche worshiped guinea pigs, although other sources we've read make their relationship with guinea pigs sound not quite as nice. According to The Moche of Ancient Peru: Media and Messages by Jeffrey Quilte, "Guinea pigs and ducks were domesticated and kept within easy reach for their meat." Not cool, Moche people of ancient Peru! We're way too lovable to be treated as food!

Although we completely disagree with their dietary choices, we do have to admit that their art is pretty cool.

Guinea Pigs in Europe in the 1500s

It's time for another guinea pig history lesson! You may remember that in a previous post, we pointed out that the earliest guinea pig portrait is from the year 1580, and depicts Elizabethan children holding a guinea pig. Here's a painting from the year 1615 (so 35 years later than the last one) that we found in a National Geographic article :

Article caption: "A detail from a 1615 painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder shows multicolored guinea pigs. PAINTING BY JAN BRUEGHEL THE ELDER, STAPLETON COLLECTION/CORBIS" (source: National Geographic News)

I'd be scared if I were those guinea pigs! It must be scary to be surrounded by much larger animals like that.

The National Geographic article discusses how archaeologists dated guinea pig bones in Belgium to the 16th or 17th centuries, soon after the Spanish made contact with South America (where guinea pigs originated).

Looking at a variety of evidence, the article claims that guinea pigs were mostly kept as pets in Europe, and were not just pets for the upper-classes. The only other guinea pig skeleton from the 16th century in Europe was found in a wealthy manor in England, leading archaeologists to think guinea pigs may only have been a pet for the rich. However, this new evidence suggests otherwise.

So even in 16th-century Europe, people knew what great pets we are!

Giant Prehistoric Guinea Pigs!

There's been some interesting new studies about guinea pig ancestors in the news that we need to share with you. This is from a press release from the University of York:

The largest rodent ever to have lived may have used its front teeth just like an elephant uses its tusks, a new study led by scientists at the University of York and The Hull York Medical School (HYMS) has found.
Josephoartigasia monesi, a rodent closely related to guinea pigs, lived in South America approximately 3 million years ago.  It is the largest fossil rodent ever found, with an estimated body mass of 1000 kg and was similar in size to a buffalo.
Dr Philip Cox, of the Centre for Anatomical and Human Sciences, a joint research centre of the University’s Department of Archaeology and HYMS, used computer modelling to estimate how powerful the bite of Josephoartigasia could be.
He found that, although the bite forces were very large – around 1400 N, similar to that of a tiger – the incisors would have been able to withstand almost three times that force, based on earlier estimates by co-authors, Dr Andres Rinderknecht, of  The Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Montevideo, and Dr Ernesto Blanco, of Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Fısica, Montevideo, who first described the fossil in 2008.
Dr Cox said: “We concluded that Josephoartigasia must have used its incisors for activities other than biting, such as digging in the ground for food, or defending itself from predators. This is very similar to how a modern day elephant uses its tusks.”

1,000 kilograms, the article says! Our weights tend to range from about 800 - 1,100 grams, and there are 1,000 grams in 1 kilogram. That means that our ancestor, Josephoartigasia monesi, weighed about 1,000 times more than us! If we were that big and bit with the force of a tiger, I think the humans would take our nips much more seriously!

We found some pictures of what Josephoartigasia monesi probably looked like in some other articles on this:

"A University of York artist's impression of the Josephoartigasia monesi" (source: independent.ie)

Artist impression of Josephoartigasia monesi (Nobu Tamura) (source: International Business Times)

Ask A Guinea Pig: Can Guinea Pigs Sense Emotions?

Question: riordan77piglove asks: "can guinea pigs sense human emotions, like dogs?"

Answer: Great question!

Many humans seem to think so. Some of their comments include:

• "Oh yes, I have found they certainly understand human emotion...also when one has died, they behave differently too. They are very intelligent and sensitive."
• "I think they absolutely respond to our emotions. When I first got Elsa, and thought something was wrong with her, I started crying while I was holding her, and Miss Elsa crawled up and snuggled under my hair like she knew I felt bad and needed cheering."
• "My girls know my moods. If I am down or depressed they snuggle more with me."

According to a poll of of TED community pet owners: "48.7% percent of you said that your pet has a good understanding of your emotions. And 71.5% of you said that your pet helps you through hard times often—with an additional 14.2% saying that there’s one major event in life that your pet helped you get through." We should point out that the poll respondents were mostly dog and cat owners, and only a handful had guinea pigs, however. Still, the poll fits with the aforementioned comments specifically from guinea pig owners.

There was also a scientific study that looked at how the brains of dogs responded to human emotion, which found: "It turns out that both species have an area of the brain that is tuned to the 'emotional valence' of a voice, meaning it responds more strongly to positive emotions than negative emotions. And for this region, it doesn’t matter whether the voice is human or canine; a burst of laughter is equivalent to a playful bark." The author argues "that because dogs and humans... have regions dedicated to processing voices, this skill probably dates back 100 million years, to the common ancestor of humans and dogs." Let's take a look at the chart of mammal evolution from the article:

You may notice that "Guinea Pig" is also listed on the chart (last entry under the brown "Rodentia" section) as sharing a common ancestor. The article states that if this "theory is correct, then all or most of those species also carry the voice-sensitive brain area." As far as we know, there have yet to be any equivalent studies on guinea pigs where scientists scan our brains while exposing us to human emotions. We should also point out that this scientific study was hearing-based, and some of the humans who felt guinea pigs could sense emotions claimed that we "can also tell how you're feeling by scent." Therefore, scientists might also want to consider having humans physically present when they study guinea pig emotions so it's not just restricted to hearing.

I'm sensing a human who loves me!

Or, they can just skip the scientific studies and ask us directly on this blog. Since you asked, we'll answer directly. Yes, we're sensing that you all feel a sense of incredible awe at our cuteness! (Did we get it right? We did, didn't we?)

The Earliest Guinea Pig Portrait

We think guinea pig history should be taught in school. If it ever becomes a college course, you can be sure this will be in the textbook. This picture from the year 1580 is thought to be the earliest portrait of a guinea pig:

Those Elizabethan children should get a second guinea pig. That one looks lonely.

That piggy kind of looks like Annie, doesn't it?