Do you know why a guinea pig is a pig? Why is the pig called: guinea pig? Where did the name guinea pig come from?

Guinea pigs are small mammals native to South America. Even today, the guinea pig can be found in nature in this area. They live both in the mountains and in the forest, fields and even swamps. After its discovery, this furry animal quickly won the hearts of people, and they began to be kept as a pet all over the world. Guinea pigs were the favorite companions of sailors, being unpretentious in food and maintenance, and easily trained. It was an "overseas" animal, but after many years, the name "overseas" grew into "sea". So these rodents began to be called "guinea pig", although they themselves are very bad at water!

But why pigs? The reason for this name was the habits of this rodent. When he is full and satisfied, he grunts softly. But it is worth frightening him, as the rodent emits a wild piercing screech, which is very reminiscent of the squeal of small pigs. That is why the guinea pig has become a "pig". If you look very closely at the structure of the body of a guinea pig, you can easily see the external similarities between a rodent and a mammal of the same name. Like a pig, a guinea pig has short legs, a rather massive head on a short neck and a thick body.

There are a huge variety of different types of guinea pigs, most of which are artificially bred. In nature, guinea pigs have short hair, while for domestic use species with very long hair have been bred. They are all very friendly and funny.

Interesting Guinea Pigs Facts:

1. For the first time, the Incas began to keep guinea pigs as pets. They also grew them for food, sacrificed them to the gods.

2. The first mention of guinea pigs refers to the period when Peru and Bolivia were conquered. Then the conquerors described these funny animals as "the local little rabbit."

3. In the past, the Andean peoples ate guinea pigs as we eat rabbits.

4. In Europe, guinea pigs were initially used only as experimental specimens in laboratories, and only over time they began to be kept as pets.

5. When guinea pigs became widely known in Europe as pets, they cost a fortune and were considered a very great rarity and luxury.

6. Guinea pigs live in groups of 10-15 individuals, pulling out minks for themselves. They breed regardless of the time of year, while the cubs calmly move independently a couple of hours after birth. It is noteworthy that guinea pigs are born with their eyes already open, which is not typical of a detachment of rodents.

7. Pregnancy in a female guinea pig lasts only 60-70 days.

8. The average lifespan of a guinea pig is 7-8 years.

9. Pigs are easy to learn, which can be explained by the fact that these rodents have an excellent memory!

10. In South America, it has long been believed that guinea pigs attract bad luck.

The homeland of the animal is America, and it turned into an “overseas pig”, and then completely into a sea pig. Many are surprised why cute, furry, rather miniature animals are called pigs, and even marine ones.

In appearance, they bear little resemblance to piglets, and they hate water procedures.

There is an explanation for such a “philological riddle”, but to solve it, you will have to travel through history.

Guinea pigs are native to South America. They are common in the Andes and live in groups in their own dug holes, just like wild rabbits. The natural color of these rodents is modest and does not differ in variety, it has a gray-black tint.

The Indians have been eating guinea pig meat for a long time: it has a delicate and pleasant taste, it is considered dietary.

Wild pig. In Peru, these animals are still raised on farms and served in restaurants as a delicacy.

Of course, when breeding, special attention is paid not to obtaining new colors, as in decorative breeds, but to increasing the size of individuals. Some "meat" pigs reach a weight of 4 kg.

During the discovery and conquest of America, the Spaniards drew attention to funny chubby animals, the shape of the body and head resembling milk pigs. We tasted it - we liked it. So guinea pigs came to Europe, and then to Asia and Africa. Gradually, they began to play exclusively the role of pets.

Linguistic versions of the origin of the name

In Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, the guinea pig is called "Indian". Why? It's simple, because at first America was considered and called India. The English version is “Guinea” (perhaps bought for a guinea, perhaps the British confused America with Guinea, which is closer and more understandable to them).

In Russia, things were even simpler. Why is the guinea pig so called - guinea pig? Foreign "unknown little animal" brought from the sea? So she's overseas. Gradually, the prefix "for" lost its meaning, and the pig turned into a sea pig. Obviously, the Germans had the same train of thought, in Germany the principle of the structure of the phrase is identical to Russian.

Pigs on the ship - fortunately?

With the development of navigation, pigs, justifying their name, began to travel on ships. They were used as food. It was convenient in many ways.

Animals were brought to Europe by ship. Unpretentious compact little animals did not take up much space, they did not require special care, they were flexible, but the meat was excellent.

In addition, they got along well with the permanent inhabitants of the holds - rats (relatives after all), and in times of danger they made sharp and shrill sounds, warning the crew of a possible shipwreck.

In a word, comfortable and profitable "passengers" from all sides.

Tricks of cunning priests

In the time of Columbus, Catholic priests were distinguished by gluttony - they loved to eat tasty food and tried their best to circumvent the strict requirements of fasting. With the discovery of America, they have new opportunities to get around the rules.

The “holy fathers” reasoned thus. Guinea pigs are brought on ships by sea. And with them - their distant relatives - the world's largest aquatic rodents - capybaras. So, they can be attributed ... to fish and, accordingly, eat during fasting.

Get out, do not say anything!

Why are pigs anyway? There are several reasons:

They make sounds similar to grunting.
Similar in body structure - rounded head and torso, short limbs.
Delicious juicy meat, however, in guinea pigs it looks more like a rabbit.

The origin of the Russian name of the animal "guinea pig" apparently comes from the word "overseas". Later, the word "overseas" turned into the word "marine". The very origin of the word "overseas" is connected with two points. Firstly, initially guinea pigs came to Russia mostly by sea on ships, that is, "from across the sea." Secondly, they were brought mostly from Germany, where they are called Meerschweinchen. So our name for this animal, "guinea pig", is most likely a simple literal translation of its German name.

We see that the guinea pig has the most indirect relation to the sea, since its homeland is located across the ocean, that is, as they said before, "beyond the sea." Yes, and she does not know how to swim, as she is a purely land animal and does not tolerate water. But, nevertheless, until now, some unfortunate animals have to pay for the mistakes and ignorance of people. There are reliably known cases when new owners let a guinea pig purchased for their children into aquariums with fish or water containers so that the animals "swim" there - they are "marine" after all! And after these poor animals, exhausted from floundering in the water, drowned, some of them called zoological shops and complained indignantly about the loss of their acquisition.

But why is this glorious animal called "pig"? Apparently, this is due, firstly, to the appearance of the animal. As we remember, to the Spaniards, she resembled a suckling pig. The identification of a pig with a domestic pig occurred not only due to the appearance of the animal, but also by the way the Indians cooked it for food: they doused it with boiling water to clean it of wool, as was done by Europeans to remove bristles from a pig. Some historians suggest that in Europe, as in their homeland, the guinea pig originally served as a source of food. Secondly, apparently, this is due to the fact that they have a large head, a short neck and a thick body and a peculiar structure of the fingers of the limbs. They are armed with elongated, hoof-shaped, ribbed claws that our ancestors somewhat resembled the hooves of piglets. And thirdly, if at rest the mumps makes gurgling sounds, then when frightened, it switches to a squeal, which is somewhat similar to a pig.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the guinea pig was very expensive and was available only to rich people. This is reflected in the English name of the animal guinea pig - "a pig for a guinea." Until 1816, the guinea was the main gold coin in the British Empire. Guinea got its name from the name of the African country of Guinea, which at that time was a British colony and a supplier of gold, which went to England for minting gold coins.

There is another translation - "guinea pig", which is mentioned by some authors. M. Cumberland explains the name "Guinea pig" by the fact that the British had more trade relations with their colony than with South America, and therefore they were accustomed to looking at Guinea as part of India. And as we remember, one of the early European names for the guinea pig was "Indian pig".

It should be noted that at present the British often call her Cavy or Cui. In addition to the above names, other, less common names for this cute animal can still be found in England: Indian little pig - a small Indian pig, restles cavy - restless (mobile) pig, Gvinea pig - Guinea pig and domestic cavy - domestic pig.

Guinea pigs are among the popular pets. They do not take up much space and are suitable for keeping in small apartments, they are quite unpretentious in food and care, they are liked by children and have a good-natured disposition. But why are guinea pigs called guinea pigs, because in their way of life they do not belong to aquatic animals in any way? The material below will help you figure it out.

Brief introduction

The guinea pig is a member of the order of rodents of the mumps family. Despite the name, these crumbs have nothing to do with pigs and boars, because pigs are small rodents that inhabit the savannas and feed on vegetation. According to the features of the structure, they are close to the lagomorphs.

For the first time, the indigenous inhabitants of the American continent, the Indians, began to domesticate pigs and eat them, but these rodents came to Europe only in the era of the great geographical discoveries.

Name history

Why is the guinea pig called that? It turns out that the rodent makes characteristic sounds that remind many of the grunting of pigs, although cute creatures have nothing in common with these artiodactyls.

And the word "marine" was already added by Europeans, because in order to bring animals to their homeland, they had to transport them on ships across the sea. Therefore, initially the epithet was “overseas”, but gradually the prefix “for” disappeared, and people replenished their vocabulary with the phrase familiar to us.

However, back in the 16th century, when these rodents became favorites of the European aristocracy, they were often called "little" or "Indian rabbits", because at first America was considered India.

Variations in the origin of the name

We answered the question of why guinea pigs are called guinea pigs. But this is not the only version of the origin of the name of tame rodents. So, there are several other hypotheses:

The theory of external similarity. Despite the obvious differences between rodents and artiodactyls, several similar features can be noted in their appearance. So, small eyes, short legs are characteristic of both. The small legs of rodents end in tiny hooves, which makes them look like wild boars. Even Spanish travelers noticed these features and gave the corresponding name to the animals.
Rodents, like pigs, are unpretentious in food and maintenance, they can eat almost everything and live in pens. Therefore, the second hypothesis explained the origin of the name by the similarity of conditions in captivity.
Finally, there is a version explaining why the guinea pig was called a guinea pig, by the similarity of the methods of preparing a rodent and an artiodactyl: both of them were doused with boiling water, which made it possible to clean the skin of wool much faster. This is exactly what the natives and American natives did with guinea pigs. Often these babies were bred and kept "for meat", like artiodactyls.

Of course, these versions are interesting, but the main hypothesis seems to be the most plausible.

Linguistic Data

To understand why the guinea pig is so named, the history of the origin of the words will help. In science, the Latin term “cavia porcellus” is well known, where the word “porcellus” is “a small pig”, and “cavia” comes from the word “kabiai”, as the animal was called in one of the tribes of South America.

What is another name for rodents?

We looked at why guinea pigs are called guinea pigs. It is interesting that such a name is not used everywhere, but only in Germany, Russia and the CIS, in other countries animals are called differently:

the Japanese call pigs groundhogs;
Spaniards - rabbits;
in some countries, animals are called "cavia", "kewi", "cavey";
the names "Indian", "mountain", "Guinean" pigs are known.

The following fact is known: once rodents could be purchased for a guinea, so the name “Guinean pigs” was added to them, but a mistake was made in the course of use in speech, and the animal became “Guinean”, although it had nothing to do with this country.

Some interesting facts

Having learned why guinea pigs are called guinea pigs, let's get acquainted with some interesting facts from the world of these amazing animals.

If they are known to us as pretty pets, then in Peru pigs are often fattened, reaching a weight of over 4 kg. According to its taste, rodent meat is very fragrant, tender and belongs to the diet.
Black guinea pigs are considered by the Native Americans to be true healers. Locals believe that they are able to absorb diseases and cure a person.
The record holder of the Guinness Book of Records is a guinea pig who lived for 15 years.
After the Spaniards brought the animals to Europe, the kids fell in love with the aristocracy, so the price of pigs skyrocketed, and not every rich man could afford such a pet.

So, the answer to the question "why are guinea pigs called guinea pigs" cannot be given definitively. At the moment, there are several hypotheses, each of which is supported by quite logical arguments, so for now, anyone has the right to choose the option that seems most attractive. One thing is obvious - these animals are so smart and unpretentious that they will become real pets for the whole family.

Today, when many people keep reptiles and insects at home, no one is surprised by a guinea pig. Meanwhile, this is a very affectionate and cute pet, which is a pleasure to keep.

Nevertheless, sometimes not only visitors to pet stores, but also the breeders themselves wonder why this cute rodent is called a guinea pig?

Let's try to answer this question.

First, let's look at history. The first records of guinea pigs are found among the Spaniards, who landed on the shores of South America as early as the 7th century BC. It was there that the local Indians were engaged in breeding guinea pigs, for whom these rodents served as the main source of meat, and were also used for various rituals.

Seeing the wonderful furry animals, the Spanish conquerors could not resist and brought them to Europe, along with some animals. In the new place, guinea pigs were expected to be a stormy success, and only the richest people, who could afford such an expensive pleasure at that time, began to start them.

Now back to the question of the name. First, let's look at why this charm is called pigs. One of the very first versions says that the pigs owe this precisely to the Spanish conquerors, who, having seen such animals for the first time, compared them with milk pigs.

Another, no less plausible version says that the guinea pig is so called because of the way the natives cook it. When cooking, they doused the rodent with boiling water in order to clean it of wool. In the same way, they got rid of the bristles of the pig.

According to another version, the guinea pig is called so because of the sounds it makes. This type of rodent is considered the most "talkative". They express any of their moods with various sounds, which are more or less similar to grunting or squealing.

Some people talk about the similarity of this animal with pigs due to the structure of the head, as well as a rather elongated body.

One way or another, but with the "mumps" everything is clear, it remains to find out why it is marine. An interesting fact: it is called “marine” only in Russia and Germany. In other countries of Europe and America, the rodent is called Indian and even mountain pig. In our homeland, the animal was first called the overseas pig. This was due to the way the animal was brought to the mainland “from across the sea”. Already later, the name was simplified, and the “guinea pig” took root not only in Russian, but also in Russian homes.

Whatever the name of the guinea pig is associated with, it still remains one of the cutest and most unpretentious pets. And whether to compare your pet with pigs or to remember the foreign homeland of the animal is the business of each owner individually.