Common agouti

Agouti

The agoutis ( Dasyprocta ) are a rodent species. Together with the Acouchis (also known as dwarf or tailed agoutis ), they form the family of agoutis and Acouchis ( Dasyproctidae ). The genus includes eleven species.

Dissemination

Agoutis are native to Central and South America, their original range extends from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.

Description

Agoutis have slim body, resting on thin, long legs. The front legs have four toes, the hind legs are much longer, end in three toes. All toe wear hoof- claws and are adapted to an ongoing locomotion. Their fur is thick and rough, it is usually dark orange or brownish in color. The underside is white or yellowish. The massive head sits on a short neck and has small, round ears and large eyes. The tail is just a stub with one to four centimeters in length. Agoutis reach a body length 42-62 centimeters and a weight of 1.5 to 4.0 kilograms.

The guard hairs have a particularly pronounced Ringel drawing of similar hair pattern is eponymous ( Agutiringe ).

Way of life

Agoutis inhabit a range of habitats, including forests, dense scrubland and savannas, but also fields and plantations. They are primarily diurnal, only in heavily populated areas, they only come out of hiding at dusk. For shelter, they are self-dug burrows, but also hollow tree trunks and dense vegetation.

Agoutis are bottom dwellers, whose body is geared to fast running. They are digitigrade ( digigrad ) and galloped rapidly in case of threat of it. Trails from their shelters to their grazing areas facilitate rapid advancement. To feed, they sit on their hind legs and take their food in the front feet, from this position, they can flee without great loss of time.

Agoutis live solitary or in pairs. They inhabit a fixed territory, which they defend aggressively, at least against same-sex conspecifics. Their forms of communication include establishing the back hair - a threatening gesture - and a number of sounds, including a reminiscent of a dog barking alarm sound.

Food

Agoutis are herbivores who are not choosy when searching for food. They eat fruits, nuts, leaves, stems and roots. There are reports that they follow primate groups and eat the fruits that are these fallen down. When eating agoutis stand on their hind legs and keep the food between their paws. In the Amazon, agoutis are almost the only animals that can open the hard seed capsules of the Brazil nut with their strong teeth. As they buried the remains of managers typically not consumed, they contribute significantly to the dissemination and preservation of the Brazil nut stocks.

Reproduction

In most regions, the pairing can take place throughout the year. As part of the mating ritual has been observed that the male the female with his urine splashed, triggering fierce dance moves on her. After this process was repeated several times, it is to mate. The gestation period is around 100 to 120 days and the litter size is one or two, rarely three. Newborn agoutis are hairy and precocial, they can run within an hour. After about five months, the pups are weaned, when the female is pregnant again, it separates from the pups. The highest known age of agoutis was almost 18 years.

Agoutis and people

On the one hand because they occur frequently in these plantations and devastate the other hand, because of their great tasting meat agoutis are hunted by humans. From Indian peoples agoutis were introduced to the food supply on several Caribbean islands before the arrival of Europeans, these stocks are now all but extinct.

Hazardous situation

The destruction of their habitat to bear the persecution by the people to the fact that five of the eleven species are on the Red List of endangered species by the World Conservation Union IUCN. As Near Threatened ( Near Threatened ) the Orinoco Agouti is evaluated; as threatened ( Vulnerable ) you judge the Coiba agouti; endangered ( Endangered ) you can see the Roatan agouti and the Mexican agouti is considered threatened with extinction ( Critically Endangered ) seen. Another type, the Azara agouti, was classified in 1996 as endangered; are currently used for assessment but insufficient data available (Data Deficient ).

System

A total of eleven species of agoutis be distinguished. ( The Acouchis or Zwergagutis form their own genre! )

• The Azara - agouti ( Dasyprocta azarae ) lives in southern Brazil and northern Argentina. The IUCN lists it as endangered.
• The Coiba agouti (D. coibae ) is endemic to the island of Coiba off the coast of Panama. It is considered threatened.
• The Haubenaguti (D. cristata ) is used in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
• The Mohrenaguti or black agouti (D. fuliginosa ) lives in northern South America ( from Colombia to the Amazon region ).
• The Orinoco agouti (D. guamara ) lives in Venezuela in the Orinoco delta.
• The Kalinowski agouti (D. kalinowskii ) is located in southeastern Peru and has an unclear threat status.
• The Goldaguti (D. leporina, the name D. aguti is deprecated) is located in northern and central South America.
• The Mexican agouti (D. mexicana / Sereque ) lives in southern Mexico. It is listed as threatened with extinction.
• The Schwarzbauchaguti (D. prymnolopha ) occurs in eastern Brazil.
• The Central American agouti (D. punctata) is distributed from southern Mexico to Argentina. It is listed as Near Threatened.
• The Roatan agouti (D. ruatanica ) is on the belonging to the island of Roatan Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras endemic. It is considered threatened.

Agoutis, together with the Acouchis in force here systematics a family agoutis and Acouchis ( Dasyproctidae ). In some classifications also the Pacas ( cuniculus ) be included as well, but they should not be used too close.