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Agouti - DASYPROCTA LEPORINA
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Agouti": "Agouti" is from the native South American Guarani word "acuti," for the animal.
Location: Northeastern South America.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Cultivated land, damp woodlands, and savanna.
Description: The agouti’s body is covered with a dense, soft, yellowish, brown, or sometimes white fur. The legs are long, and the front feet have four toes while and the hind feet have three. The ears are quite large. This animal grows to about two feet in length with a tail adding only an inch or so. It weighs about nine pounds.
Behavior: This solitary, entirely herbivorous rodent feeds on roots, tender stems, grass, and fruit. It is active by night, and spends the daylight hours hiding in lairs made in hollows in trees or in cracks and crannies in the ground. If, however, it finds itself in an area where man poses a threat, it adapts to a completely nocturnal way of life. The lair consists of various chambers and long passages, which lead directly to areas where there is an abundance of food. This agouti frequently causes serious damage to sugar cane plantations.
Reproduction: The female has eight nipples. Gestation lasts three months, and the female usually bears two young twice a year. The offspring are completely independent after a few months.
Go to the Rodents Page to learn more about all the gnawing animals.
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