True cavies, or couies (Cavia), are best known by the guineapig, a domesticated and parti-coloured race derived from one of the wild species, all of which are uniformly coloured.
In the true cavies, or couies, Cavia, the foreand hind-limbs are short and of subequal length, the ears are short and there is no tail.
The rodents are numerous and include most, if not all, of the Amazonian species - the capybara (Hydrochoerus capybara), cavia (C. aperea), paca (Coelogenys paca) and cutia (Dasyprocta aguti), all amphibious and having an extensive range.
Of the amphibious rodents, the pi-ea (Cavia aperea), mod, (C. rupestris), paca (Coelogenys paca), cutia (Dasyprocta aguti) and capybara (Hydrochoerus capybara) are noteworthy for their size and extensive range.
