Agouti Dasyprocto Skull Replica

Description

Agouti Dasyprocto skull replica measures 4.8 inches. The Agouti Dasyprocto skull is a museum-quality polyurethane resin cast from California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and mandible). 1:1 scale. Made in the USA.

The 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.

They 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.

In the wild, they are shy animals and flee from humans, while in captivity they may become trusting. In Trinidad, they are renowned for being very fast runners, able to keep hunting dogs occupied with chasing them for hours.

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.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Rodentia
• Family: Dasyproctidae
• Genus: Dasyprocta
• Species: Agouti Dasyprocto
• Conservation status: Least Concern