Editing Guinea pig (section)

==History==
[[File:Guinea pig skull. Cavia porcellus 02.jpg|thumb|Skull of a guinea pig]]
''Cavia porcellus'' is not found naturally in the wild; it is likely descended from closely related species of [[cavia|cavies]], such as ''[[Brazilian guinea pig|C.&nbsp;aperea]]'', ''[[Shiny guinea pig|C.&nbsp;fulgida]]'', and ''[[Montane guinea pig|C.&nbsp;tschudii]]''. These closely related species are still commonly found in various regions of South America.<ref name=weir/> Studies from 2007 to 2010 applying [[molecular marker]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spotorno |first1=A. E. |last2=Marín |first2=J. C. |last3=Manríquez |first3=G. |last4=Valladares |first4=J. P. |last5=Rico |first5=E. |last6=Rivas |first6=C. |year=2006 |title=Ancient and modern steps during domestication of guinea pigs (''Cavia porcellus'' L.) |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=270 |issue=1 |pages=57–62 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00117.x|s2cid=56219784 |hdl=10533/178756}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00561.x|title=Molecular systematics, taxonomy and biogeography of the genus Cavia (Rodentia: Caviidae)|year=2010|last1=Dunnum|first1=Jonathan L.|last2=Salazar-Bravo|first2=Jorge|journal=Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research|volume=48|issue=4|pages=376–388|s2cid=18000863|doi-access=free}}</ref> and morphometric studies on the skull and skeletal [[Morphology (biology)|morphology]] of current and mummified animals<ref>{{Cite book |title=The quintessential naturalist: honoring the life and legacy of Oliver P. Pearson |last1=Spotorno |first1=A. E. |last2=Manríquez |first2=G. |last3=Fernández |first3=L. A. |last4=Marín |first4=J. C. |last5=González |first5=F. |last6=Wheeler |first6=J. |date=2007 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-09859-6 |editor-last=Kelt |editor-first=D. A. |series=University of California Publications in Zoology |volume=134 |location=Berkeley |pages=367–388 |chapter=Domestication of guinea pigs from a southern Peru-northern Chile wild species and their middle pre-Columbian mummies |oclc=122715394 |editor-last2=Lessa |editor-first2=E.P. |editor-last3=Salazar-Bravo |editor-first3=J. |editor-last4=Patton |editor-first4=J. L. |chapter-url={{google books|id=PVIJr-aA-XMC|pg=PA367|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref> revealed the ancestor to be most likely ''C.&nbsp;tschudii''. Some species of cavy, identified in the 20th century as ''[[Cavia anolaimae|C.&nbsp;anolaimae]]'' and ''[[Cavia guianae|C.&nbsp;guianae]]'', may be domestic guinea pigs that have become [[feral]] by reintroduction into the wild.<ref name=walker/>

Regionally known as ''cuy'' (a Spanish word derived from the [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] ''quwi''), the guinea pig was first [[domestication|domesticated]] as early as 5000&nbsp;BC for food by tribes in the [[Andes|Andean]] region of [[South America]] (the present-day southern part of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia),{{sfn|Morales|1995|page=3}} some thousands of years after the domestication of the South American [[camelid]]s.<ref>{{cite book|ref=Chazan|last = Chazan|first = Michael|title = World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways through Time|year = 2008|publisher = Pearson Education, Inc.|isbn = 978-0-205-40621-0|page=272}}</ref> The [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the guinea pig in their art.<ref>Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. ''The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the [[Larco Museum|Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera]].'' New York: [[Thames & Hudson]], 1997.</ref>

Early accounts from Spanish settlers state that guinea pigs were the preferred sacrificial animal of the Inca people native to Peru.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Valdez |first1=Lidio M. |title=Inka Sacrificial Guinea Pigs from Tambo Viejo, Peru |journal=International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |date=2019 |volume=29 |issue=4 |page=595 |doi=10.1002/oa.2755 |s2cid=132682067 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/oa.2755|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These claims are supported by archaeological digs and transcribed Quechua mythology,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sandweiss |first1=Daniel H. |last2=Wing |first2=Elizabeth S. |title=Ritual Rodents: The Guinea Pigs of Chincha, Peru |journal=[[Journal of Field Archaeology]] |date=1997 |volume=21 |issue=1 |page=50 |doi=10.2307/530560 |jstor=530560 }}</ref> providing evidence that sacrificial rituals involving guinea pigs served many purposes in society such as appeasing the gods, accompanying the dead, or reading the future.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sandweiss |first1=Daniel H. |last2=Wing |first2=Elizabeth S. |title=Ritual Rodents: The Guinea Pigs of Chincha, Peru |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |date=1997 |volume=24 |issue=1 |page=54 |doi=10.2307/530560 |jstor=530560 }}</ref>

From about 1200 to the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish conquest]] in 1532, the indigenous people used selective breeding to develop many varieties of domestic guinea pigs, forming the basis for some modern domestic breeds.<ref name="walker">{{cite book|last = Nowak|first = Ronald M.|title = Walker's Mammals of the World|url = https://archive.org/details/walkersmammalsof0001nowa|url-access = registration|edition = 6th|year = 1999|pages = 1667–1669|isbn = 978-0-8018-5789-8|publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press|location = Baltimore, Md.}}</ref> They continue to be a food source in the region; many households in the Andean highlands raise the animal.{{sfn|Morales|1995|page=8}}[[File:Three Unknown Elizabethan Children.jpg|thumb|right|c. 1580 painting of Elizabethan children with a cavy pet]]

In the early 1500s, [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]], [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], and [[British Empire|English]] traders took guinea pigs to Europe, where they quickly became popular as [[exotic pet]]s among the upper classes and royalty, including [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]].{{sfn|Morales|1995|page=3}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Petrylak |first=Ashley |date=2009|title=Guinea Pigs (Great Pets)|url=|publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing|page=6|isbn=978-0-7614-4148-9}}</ref> The earliest known written account of the guinea pig dates from 1547, in a description of the animal from [[Santo Domingo]]. Because cavies are not native to [[Hispaniola]], the animal was believed to have been earlier introduced there by Spanish travelers.<ref name="weir">{{Cite book|last = Weir|first = Barbara J.|contribution = Notes on the Origin of the Domestic Guinea-Pig|editor-last = Rowlands|editor-first = I. W.|editor2-last = Weir|editor2-first = Barbara J.|title = The Biology of Hystricomorph Rodents|publisher = Academic Press|year = 1974|pages = [https://archive.org/details/conceptsofhumane0000unse/page/437 437–446]|isbn = 978-0-12-613333-2|url = https://archive.org/details/conceptsofhumane0000unse/page/437}}</ref> However, based on more recent excavations on West Indian islands, the animal may have been introduced to the Caribbean around 500 BC by ceramic-making horticulturalists from South America.<ref>Newsom and Wing, 2004, cited in {{cite journal|author1=Fitzpatrick, S.M. |author2=Keegan, W.F. |year=2007|title= Human impacts and adaptations in the Caribbean Islands: an historical ecology approach|journal= Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |volume=98|issue=1 |pages=29–45|doi=10.1017/S1755691007000096 |bibcode=2007EESTR..98...29F |s2cid=128704578 }}</ref> It was present in the [[Ostionoid]] period on [[Puerto Rico]], for example, long before the advent of the Spaniards.<ref>deFranca, S.D., Hadden, C.S., LeFebvre, M.J. and DuChemin, G. 2010. "Animal use at the Tibes Ceremonial Center." In: Curet, A. and Stringer, L.M. (eds.). ''Tibes: People, power, and ritual at the center of the cosmos.'' The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. pp. 115–151.</ref>

The guinea pig was first described in the West in 1554 by the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[naturalist]] [[Conrad Gessner]].<ref>{{cite book|last = Gmelig-Nijboer|first = C. A.|title = Conrad Gessner's "Historia Animalum": An Inventory of Renaissance Zoology|year = 1977|publisher = Krips Repro B.V.|pages = 69–70}}</ref> Its [[binomial nomenclature|binomial scientific name]] was first used by [[Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben|Erxleben]] in 1777; it is an amalgam of [[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]]' [[Genus name|generic]] designation (1766) and [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]' [[specific name (zoology)|specific]] conferral (1758).<ref name="weir" />

The earliest-known European illustration of a domestic guinea pig is a painting (artist unknown) in the collection of the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] in London, dated to 1580, which shows a girl in a typical Elizabethan dress holding a tortoise-shell guinea pig in her hands. She is flanked by her two brothers, one of whom holds a pet bird.<ref name="TeleCavy">Reported, with colour illustration, in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', London, 21 August 2013.</ref> The picture dates from the same period as the oldest recorded guinea pig remains in England, which are a partial cavy skeleton found at [[Hill Hall (Essex)|Hill Hall]], an Elizabethan manor house in [[Essex]], and dated to around 1575.<ref name="TeleCavy" />