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Agouti (genus)
Encyclopedia
The genus
Cuniculus contains the two species of pacas. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae.
Pacas are found from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Their range includes Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname,Trinidad and Venezuela.
It is now considered a luxury food-source by the people of Guyana and Mexico. In Nicaragua it is called Guardatinaja, and it is raised as the prime gourmet Nicaraguan Wild Meat. The legend goes in the Mayan Region of the Yucatan Peninsula that the kings and Caciques used to raise Pacas for their personal use, and if a servant ate one they would be punished harshly. In Trinidad
(in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
), it is called 'Lappe' and is considered among the most highly prized of wild game, its flesh being sold at high prices resulting in high levels of poaching and a decline of its populations at some localities on the island. In Belize, it is referred to as a "gibnut," and considered a delicacy.
Today universities and some governments are interested in developing farming of Pacas, and also Capybara
s (a cousin of Pacas).
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
in Panama has studied the possibilities of developing the Paca as a viable high-priced food supply for the Tropics.
Pacas primarily live in tropical rainforests but are also found in a wide variety of forest habitats, including mangrove swamps, deciduous and semi-deciduous forest, dense upland scrub, and narrow growth along river banks.
Both species of paca eat mainly fruit but their diet changes throughout its range and based on the seasons. Other foods include roots, seeds, leaves, buds, and flowers. In the wild, pacas are herbivores, meaning they eat only plants. In captivity, they are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and flesh. Pacas in zoos eat fruits, vegetables, raw meat, lizards, and insects.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Cuniculus contains the two species of pacas. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae.
Species
- Cuniculus hernandezi
- Lowland Paca, Cuniculus paca
- Mountain PacaMountain PacaThe Mountain Paca is a small burrow-dwelling rodent whose habitats are high altitude South American forests. Pacas are nocturnal, sedentary, and solitary animals with territorial tendencies. It eats mostly fruits and seeds...
, Cuniculus taczanowskii
Pacas are found from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Their range includes Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname,Trinidad and Venezuela.
It is now considered a luxury food-source by the people of Guyana and Mexico. In Nicaragua it is called Guardatinaja, and it is raised as the prime gourmet Nicaraguan Wild Meat. The legend goes in the Mayan Region of the Yucatan Peninsula that the kings and Caciques used to raise Pacas for their personal use, and if a servant ate one they would be punished harshly. In Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
(in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
), it is called 'Lappe' and is considered among the most highly prized of wild game, its flesh being sold at high prices resulting in high levels of poaching and a decline of its populations at some localities on the island. In Belize, it is referred to as a "gibnut," and considered a delicacy.
Today universities and some governments are interested in developing farming of Pacas, and also Capybara
Capybara
The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...
s (a cousin of Pacas).
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States, is dedicated to understanding biological diversity. What began in 1923 as small field station on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone has developed...
in Panama has studied the possibilities of developing the Paca as a viable high-priced food supply for the Tropics.
Pacas primarily live in tropical rainforests but are also found in a wide variety of forest habitats, including mangrove swamps, deciduous and semi-deciduous forest, dense upland scrub, and narrow growth along river banks.
Both species of paca eat mainly fruit but their diet changes throughout its range and based on the seasons. Other foods include roots, seeds, leaves, buds, and flowers. In the wild, pacas are herbivores, meaning they eat only plants. In captivity, they are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and flesh. Pacas in zoos eat fruits, vegetables, raw meat, lizards, and insects.