For other uses, see Mara

Mara

-Social groups:*Mara people, in northeastern India and western Myanmar* Mara language, a language spoken by Mara people*Mara Salvatrucha, a violent criminal gang in Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the United States...

.

The maras (Dolichotis) are a genus

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...

 of the cavy

Caviidae

The cavy family is a family of rodents native to South America, and including the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the capybara, among other animals...

 family. They are the sole representatives of the subfamily Dolichotinae. These large relatives of guinea pig

Guinea pig

The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...

s are common in the Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

n steppes of Argentina but live in other areas of South America as well such as Paraguay. Maras are the fourth largest rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

 in the world, after 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, beaver

Beaver

The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...

s, and porcupine

Porcupine

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...

s, reaching about 45 cm (17.7 in) in height.

There are two species of maras recognised, the Patagonian Mara

Patagonian Mara

The Patagonian Mara, Dolichotis patagonum, is a relatively large rodent in the mara genus . It is also known as the Patagonian cavy or Patagonian hare. This herbivorous, somewhat rabbit-like animal is found in open and semi-open habitats in Argentina, including large parts of Patagonia...

 (Dolichotis patagonum), and the Chacoan Mara

Chacoan Mara

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:...

 (Dolichotis salinicola).

Physical description

Maras have stocky bodies, three sharp-clawed digits on the hind feet, and four digits of the forefeet. Maras have been described as resembling long-legged rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

s. Patagonian Maras can run at speeds up to 29 km (18 mi) per hour. Maras can weigh over 11 kg (24.3 lb) in adulthood.

Most Maras have a brown head and body, a dark almost black rump with a white fringe around the base, and a white belly.

Maras may amble, hop in a rabbit-like fashion, gallop, or bounce on all fours. They have been known to leap up to 6 ft (1.8 m).

Maras mate for life, and may have from 1 to 3 offspring each year. Mara babies are very well developed, and can start grazing within 24 hours. They use a slightly hostile creche

Crèche (zoology)

The Crèche in zoology refers to care of another's offspring, for instance in a colony. This term is used in the study of bird colonies...

 system, where one pair of adults keep watch for all the youngsters in the creche. If they spot danger, the young rush below ground into a burrow (usually dug by a burrowing owl

Burrowing Owl

The Burrowing Owl is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated...

), and the adults are left to run for it.

Interaction with humans

Patagonian Maras are often kept in zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

s or as pets and are also known as "Patagonian cavies" or "Patagonian hares". They can be quite social with humans if raised with human interaction from a young age, though they avoid people in the wild. Maras may even change their habits from coming out in day to becoming nocturnal, simply to avoid social interaction.

Gallery

External links

• nationalzoo.si.edu