Chacoan mara the capybara, and guinea pigs. Chacoan maras are closely related to the other member of the genus "Dolichotis", the Patagonian mara. Maras are the fourth largest rodent in the world after the capybaras, beavers and porcupines . Though the mara may look like a rabbit, the rabbit is not actually a rodent and therefore not as closely related to the mara as one might expect. Chacoan mara The Chacoan mara, Dolichotis salinicola, is a relatively large South American rodent of the cavy family. They are a close relative of the better known Patagonian mara. The Chacoan mara lives in the
Guinea pig Guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig ("Cavia porcellus"), also known as cavy or domestic cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus "Cavia". Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family Suidae, nor do they come from Guinea in Africa, and the origin of their name is still unclear; they originated in the Andes of South America and studies based on biochemistry and hybridization suggest they are domesticated descendants of a closely related species of cavy such as "C. tschudii", and therefore do not exist naturally in