Humans and guinea pigs have been living together for more than 10,000 years — a really, really long time. The cute fuzzy small rabbits/large hamsters we know today as the domestic guinea pig first came from Central and South America, and were native to the countries of Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The guinea were much different than the animal friends we have today. Today the common pet we know as the guinea pig are “domesticated” — they are a mix of different guinea pig varieties and different than what guinea pigs first looked like.

Guinea Pig Habitat

In the wild on the grassy plains, guinea pigs lived in small groups or “herds”. The ideal habitat of a wild (or feral) guinea pig are savannas, forest edges, rocky areas, and swamp lands. Guinea pigs are naturally social animals and can be found in the wild living in groups of up to 10 other cavies.

Guinea Pig Domestication

Though the domestic guinea pig was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, as Mus porcellus, archaeologists in Peru agree that domestication of the guinea pig may have begun as early as 5000 BCE in southern Peru and Bolivia

Guinea pigs made it to Europe shortly after the Spanish first began the European exploration of South America. At first, guinea pigs were brought back by Spanish, Dutch, and English traders to be kept by only the wealthy ruling classes of Europe, including Queen Elizabeth I (below).

Guinea Pig Name Origin

The origin of the term “guinea pig” is unknown. Guinea pigs are more like a huge hamster or small, tiny ear rabit than a pig. And guinea pigs aren’t from Guinea.

Some people think that the cavy may have been transported to Europe on ships that left the ports of Guyanas, and its from there that they got their name. Another theory is that the name could refer to the gold coin known as a guinea, which is said to have been the price one paid for the shy little rodent that squeaks like a pig.

Guinea pigs are NOT from the African country of Guinea

The scientific name for the guinea pig is Cavia porcellus (pronounced KAY-vee pohr-CELL-us), which is where guinea pigs get the shortened name “cavy”. Technically speaking, guinea pigs are caviomorphs. Caviomorphs are South American rodents who share the following characteristics: a single pair of mammary glands, four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot.

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