Chacoan Mara

Life

Chacoan Mara Temporal range: Pleistocene - Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Caviidae
Genus:	Dolichotis
Species:	D. salinicola
Binomial name
Dolichotis salinicola Burmeister, 1876

The Chacoan Mara, Dolichotis salinicola, is a relatively large rodent from South America of the cavy family. They are a close relative of the better known Patagonian Mara.

Habitat

The Chacoan Mara lives in the South American Chaco, the dry thorny forests and grasslands of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Maras dig a burrow to sleep in at night.

Food & diet

The Chacoan Mara eat grasses and other herbage. They will eat nearly any available vegetation

Social structure

Chacoan Maras live in small groups of up to four animals.

Scientific classfication and relatives

The Chacoan Mara is from the Family Caviidae, which includes cavies, such as their larger relative the capybara, and guinea pigs. Chacoan Maras are closely related to the other member of the Dolichotis Genus, the Patagonian Mara. Maras are the fourth largest rodent in the world after the capybaras, beavers and porcupines . Though the Mara may look like a rabbit, the rabbit is not actually a rodent and therefore not as closely related to the Mara as one might expect.

References

1. ^ Dunnum, J., Vargas, J., Bernal, N., Pardinas, U. & Ojeda, R. (2008). Dolichotis salinicola. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 January 2009.