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Peruvian tuco-tuco - CTENOMYS PERUANUS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Tuco-tuco": "Tuco-tuco" is probably a native South American word for the animal, possibly imitative of its sound. But this is unknown.
Location: Southern Peru.
Habitat: Terrestrial. In arid, sandy terrain in steppes, grasslands, and upland plateaus.
Description: This genus includes more than 30 species, with the coat varying in color from dark-brown or pale-brown to tawny-gray or tawny-white. The head is somewhat thickset and it has small eyes and ears. The incisors are large and prominent. The front legs are slightly shorter than the hind legs and all the toes (5 on each foot) have powerful claws designed for digging. The length of the tuco-tuco is about fifteen inches, five of which are for the tail. It weighs a little over one pound.
Behavior: This is mainly a solitary animal, which spends much of its life under the surface of the land, digging long tunnels to a depth of up to ten feet. This tunnel system, the entrances to which are easily detectable by the small mounds of earth nearby, consists of a main corridor from which various blind alleys and secondary tunnels branch off. There is a nesting chamber, lined with grass, and various storage rooms. In addition to their rightful owners, these burrows often house lizards, mice, and other creatures.
Reproduction: The female has six nipples. Gestation lasts for about 105 days and there is usually one litter a year with one to five young in it.
Note: The cry emitted by this creature is a distinctive "tuco-tuco-tuco."
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