There is much confusion in the nomenclature of this and related species; see agouti. In particular, the popular term "agouti" or "common agouti" normally refers to species of the distinct genus "Dasyprocta" (such as the Central American agouti, "Dasyprocta punctata"). Sometimes the word "agouti" is also used for a polyphyletic grouping uniting the families Cuniculidae and Dasyproctidae, which, besides the pacas and common agoutis, includes also the acouchis ("Myoprocta"). "Cuniculus" is the appropriate genus name instead of "Agouti" based on a 1998 ruling of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature as the lowland paca's genus.