2006/05/12 by Ángel E. Spotorno, Juan Carlos Marín, Germán Manríquez +3 · 3 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, Health #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock #Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology #Cavia #Biology #Breed #Domestication #Phylogenetic tree #Haplotype #Zoology #New guinea #Guinea pig #Veterinary medicine #Genetics #Gene #Allele #Ethnology
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00117.x
openalex publication_date 2006/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract To test whether there are differences between living lineages of domestic guinea pigs Cavia porcellus , we studied 118 specimens from six breeds collected along six Andean countries as well as 15 from the wild cavy species ( Cavia tschudii ). The mean weight and body length of 15 adult wild cavies (295±31 g, 242±8.3 mm) were significantly smaller than 25 creole guinea pigs from Bolivia and Chile (639±157 g, 287±23.7 mm, respectively). Eighteen laboratory/pet guinea pigs (including the English Pirbright breed) were also smaller (900±173 g, 308±21 mm) than 25 improved ones from Peru (Tamborada breed, 1241±75.4 g, 317±12 mm) and Ecuador (Auqui breed, 1138±65.5 g, 307±8 mm). Similar size increases appeared in the first axis of a principal component analysis of six skeletal measurements, recovering 84% of total variation. Phylogenetic and haplotype analyses of complete cytochrome b gene sequences consistently joined all 22 domestic individuals (13 shared unambiguous substitutions, 100% bootstrap in 1000 replicates), probably from a single first ancient domestication in the western Andes. Six laboratory/pet sequences were also joined within a common branch (six shared substitutions, 96% bootstrap), probably from a documented European second phase. By contrast, those from improved Auqui joined a northern creole subgroup (one shared substitution, 84% bootstrap), and those from Nativa and improved Tamborada clustered together and with a southern creole subgroup (four shared substitutions, 86% bootstrap); this suggests at least two independent modern events during a more complex third phase, producing two improved guinea pigs selected for size and meat. Cavia tschudii sequences showed some unexpected geographic variation.