A domesticated rodent originating in South America and now kept worldwide. It has a compact body and stays close to companions.
It has no visible tail and small ears on the sides of the head. Selective breeding has produced varied coat colors, lengths and textures.
A guinea pig's purr is a series of regular, low-frequency pulses. Guinea pigs use this call during mating behavior and when seeking contact with another animal.
This study focused on the male courtship purr. Researchers compared the sound structure and vocal performance of individual males, asking whether the call carried cues to individual identity or dominance status. The purr differed among males, and the results suggest it carries cues that can distinguish individuals. The measured acoustic features were not correlated with male dominance status. The authors describe cavy courtship as a multimodal display that may also carry information through visual and chemical signals. They report this as the first evidence that a purr carries individual information.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species · Not Evaluated (NE) · Global
The Mammal Diversity Database identifies Cavia porcellus as the domesticated form of C. tschudii and records it as kept worldwide. Its IUCN Red List status is Not Evaluated (NE); the database assigns no global extinction-risk category to this domestic taxon.