Common Agouti Skull Replica measures 4.8 inches. Common Agouti Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in the USA. California Academy of Sciences replica. Dasyprocta is the scientific name. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home decor skull, or office decor skull.
Common Agouti are large rodents that are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles.
They are related to guinea pigs and look quite similar, but are larger and have longer legs.
Common Agouti vary considerably in color, being brown, reddish, dull orange, grayish or blackish, but typically with lighter underparts.
Their bodies are covered with coarse hair which is raised when alarmed. Agoutis have five front and three hind toes; the first toe is very small. The tail is very short or nonexistent and hairless.
Common Agouti may grow to be up 24 in. in length and 8.8 lb. in weight. Most species are brown on their backs and whitish or buff on their bellies; the fur may have a glossy appearance and then glimmers in an orange color. Reports differ as to whether they are diurnal or nocturnal animals.
The molar teeth have cylindrical crowns, with several islands and a single lateral fold of enamel.
When feeding, Common Agouti sit on their hind legs and hold food between their fore paws. They may gather in groups of up to 100 to feed. They eat fallen fruit, leaves and roots, although they may sometimes climb trees to eat green fruit.
Common Agouti will hoard food in small, buried stores. In a pinch, they have also been seen eating the eggs of ground-nesting birds and even shellfish on the seashore. They can cause damage to sugarcane and banana plantations.
They are regarded as one of the few species (along with macaws) that can open Brazil nuts without tools, mainly thanks to their strength and exceptionally sharp teeth.
In southern Brazil, their main source of energy is the nut of Araucaria angustifolia.
In the wild, the Common Agouti are shy animals and flee from humans, while in captivity they may become trusting. In Trinidad, they are renowned for being very fast runners, and able to keep hunting dogs occupied with chasing them for hours.
Common Agouti are found in forested and wooded areas in Central and South America. Their habitats include rainforests, savannas, and cultivated fields, depending on the species.
They conceal themselves at night in hollow tree trunks or in burrows among roots.
Active and graceful in their movements, their pace is either a kind of trot or a series of springs following one another so rapidly as to look like a gallop. They take readily to water, in which they swim well.