It is hard to guess what a Common yellow-toothed cavy weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Common yellow-toothed cavy (Galea musteloides) on average weights 387 grams (0.85 lbs).
The Common yellow-toothed cavy is from the family Caviidae (genus: Galea). It is usually born with about 37 grams (0.08 lbs). They can live for up to 1.75 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12 cm (0′ 5″). On average, Common yellow-toothed cavys can have babies 7 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The common yellow-toothed cavy (Galea musteloides) is a species of rodent in the family Caviidae, closely related to the domesticated guinea pig. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. It’s karyotype has 2n = 68 and FN = 136. G. musteloides is the most common and widely found member of Galea, and is present at elevations ranging from 20 to 5000 m above sea level. It has yellow teeth.A recent study reveals there are five subspecies of G. musteloides: boliviensis, demissa, leucoblephara, littoralis and musteloides. These are recognized on the basis of pelage coloration, size and shape of skull, auditory bullae size and tooth shape. The species is found within a range from southern Peru to central Argentina. Evidence is mounting that the lowland form of G. musteloides is an independent species and should be called G. leucoblephara”. It is a “diurnal herbivore of squirrel size that lives in groups and occupies open habitat.”Female and male common yellow-toothed cavies average 37.6 g and 36.4 g at birth, respectively. G. musteloides reproduces for the first time at one to three months of age; the minimum age needed to reproduce is twenty-eight days. Gestation lasts fifty-three days and lactation for three weeks. Litter size averages 2.7.In Peru, Galea sometimes associates with Ctenomys; the common name for rodents of this genus is tuco-tuco. According to Sanborn and Pearson, Galea use tuco-tuco burrows and seeks in response to tuco-tuco alarm calls. Galea uses their burrows and as they seek cover they respond to the alarm calls of Ctenomys. G. musteloides is mostly found in moist areas such as stream edges and croplands.In captive groups G. musteloides establish a male and a female hierarchical order. The alpha males regularly guards receptive females, however to little effect. Usually other males also mate with the same female and in more than 80% the resulting littermates have more than one father. At least in captivity the females are clearly promiscuous, always mating with several males in the group. In the wild “G. musteloids” is clearly territorial and it remains unclear if a similar hierarchical social order exists, or if they live territorial solitary. Aggression between adult males happens regularly. Adult male G. musteloides never engage in parental activities and are aggressive to subadult males even if they are their own offspring and very young. However, males are not aggressive to females. Female adult lactate and nurse the offspring of other females during their first week of life. Nearly all offspring receive some milk from females other than their mother. However, own offspring is cared for preferentially and for longer than one week.As closely related Galea species show a range of mating systems from monogamy to promiscuous, comparative studies are possible in these groups. As general trends have been identified: a) testis size increases relative to body size in promiscuous species and b) higher social tolerance in captive held groups is associated with greater promiscuity and higher testosterone levels in males. Testosterone levels and aggression levels in males are not correlated. In fact females avoid above average aggressive males.
Animals of the same family as a Common yellow-toothed cavy
We found other animals of the Caviidae family:
- Brazilian guinea pig with a weight of 524 grams
- Shiny guinea pig with a weight of 283 grams
- Southern mountain cavy with a weight of 261 grams
- Guinea pig with a weight of 728 grams
- Montane guinea pig bringing 1 kilos (2.2 lbs) to the scale
- Chacoan mara bringing 1.61 kilos (3.55 lbs) to the scale
- Shipton’s mountain cavy with a weight of 185 grams
- Spix’s yellow-toothed cavy with a weight of 361 grams
- Rock cavy with a weight of 800 grams
- Patagonian mara bringing 8.03 kilos (17.7 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Common yellow-toothed cavy
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Galea musteloides:
- Azara’s tuco-tuco bringing 400 grams to the scale
- Long-tailed armored tree-rat bringing 439 grams to the scale
- Mahogany glider bringing 361 grams to the scale
- Buffy-tufted marmoset bringing 387 grams to the scale
- Slender-tailed squirrel bringing 427 grams to the scale
- Richardson’s ground squirrel bringing 325 grams to the scale
- Long-eared hedgehog bringing 332 grams to the scale
- Mariana fruit bat bringing 458 grams to the scale
- Russian desman bringing 420 grams to the scale
- Catamarca tuco-tuco bringing 316 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a Common yellow-toothed cavy
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Common yellow-toothed cavy:
- Chiriqui harvest mouse
- Soft-spined Atlantic spiny rat
- Gray tree rat
- Fossa (animal)
- Blanford’s rat
- Indian hedgehog
- Soft-spined Atlantic spiny rat
- Long-nosed echymipera
- Red-legged sun squirrel
- Javanese flying squirrel
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common yellow-toothed cavy
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common yellow-toothed cavy:
- Texas mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Mediterranean water shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Swamp antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Common shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Robinson’s mouse opossum with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Merriam’s kangaroo rat with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Southern red-backed vole with an average maximal age of 1.67 years
- Western harvest mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Atlantic bamboo rat with an average maximal age of 1.58 years
- Aegialomys galapagoensis with an average maximal age of 1.67 years