Chacoan mara
| Chacoan mara Temporal range: Pleistocene–recent | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Caviidae |
| Genus: | Dolichotis |
| Species: | D. salinicola |
| Binomial name | |
| Dolichotis salinicola Burmeister, 1876 | |
The Chacoan mara, Dolichotis salinicola, is a relatively large rodent from South America of the cavy family. They are a close relative of the better known Patagonian mara.
Habitat
The Chacoan mara lives in the South American Chaco, the dry thorny forests and grasslands of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Maras dig a burrow to sleep in at night.
Food and diet
The Chacoan mara eat grasses and other herbage. They will eat nearly any available vegetation.
Social structure
Chacoan maras live in small groups of up to four animals.
Scientific classfication and relatives
The Chacoan mara is from the family Caviidae, which includes cavies, such as their larger relative the capybara, and guinea pigs. Chacoan maras are closely related to the other member of the Dolichotis genus, the Patagonian mara. Maras are the fourth largest rodent in the world after the capybaras, beavers and porcupines . Though the mara may look like a rabbit, the rabbit is not actually a rodent and therefore not as closely related to the mara as one might expect.
References
- ↑ Dunnum, J., Vargas, J., Bernal, N., Pardinas, U. & Ojeda, R. (2008). Dolichotis salinicola. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
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