Cavia Pallas 1766

Cavia Pallas 1766, Misc. Zool.: 30.

Type Species: Cavia cobaya Pallas 1766

Synonyms: Anoema F. Cuvier 1809; Cauia Storr 1780; Cobaia Aymard 1854; Cobaya G. Cuvier 1817; Coiza Billberg 1828; Mamcaviaus Herrera 1899 .

Species and subspecies: 6 species with 12 subspecies:

Species Cavia aperea Erxleben 1777

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. aperea Erxleben 1777

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. guianae Thomas 1901

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. hypoleuca Cabrera 1953

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. pamparum Thomas 1901

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. patzelti Schliemann 1982

Subspecies Cavia aperea subsp. rosida Thomas 1917

Species Cavia fulgida Wagler 1831

Species Cavia intermedia Cherem, Olimpio, and Ximenez 1999

Species Cavia magna Ximinez 1980

Species Cavia porcellus (Linnaeus 1758)

Species Cavia tschudii Fitzinger 1857

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. tschudii Fitzinger 1857

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. arequipae Osgood 1919

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. festina Thomas 1927

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. osgoodi Sandborn 1949

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. sodalis Thomas 1926

Subspecies Cavia tschudii subsp. stolida Thomas 1926

Discussion: Reviewed by Hückinghaus (1961) and Cabrera (1961). See Tate (1935:343) for the reason porcellus is "excluded from consideration" as the type because the name was not included under the generic name at the time of its original publication. This genus is in need of revision as the origin of the domesticated form and the number of species that occur in the wild remains unclear.