Acrobatic cavy

The acrobatic cavy (Kerodon acrobata) also known as the acrobatic moco and climbing cavy is a cavy species native to Brazil. It is found from Goiás state to Tocantins state, west of the Espigão Mestre, Serra Geral de Goiás, and is also found in Terra Ronca State Park.^[1]

Acrobatic cavy
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Caviidae
Genus:	Kerodon
Species:	K. acrobata
Binomial name
Kerodon acrobata Moojen et al., 1997

Diet

They are herbivores known to eat a generalized diet of leaves, flowers, bud, bark and fruit^[2][3] from 16 different types of native plantations.

Habitat

Found in fragments of dry forest associated with limestone outcrops in the Cerrado savanna of central Brazil.

Appearance

Acrobatic Cavies are a large rodent averaging 1 kg in weight, their fur ranges from dark grey to light brown with orange-brown feet, mostly observed on hindfeet. Their tails are vestigial.

Phylogeny

The Acrobatic Cavy belongs to the order Rodentia, in the family Caviidae (Guinea-pig like rodents) which has two subfamilies (formerly three) with Acrobatic Cavies being in a new subfamily Hydrochaerinae alongside Capybaras and the closely related Rock Cavy from Eastern Brazil.