Where Did The Guinea Pig Come From?

The guinea pig has quite an interesting history, as it has been quite adventuresome in its travels around the world. The guinea pig has literally journeyed over seas in order to be here today, as Europe or North America are not the original birth homes of these small, cute creatures.

Guinea Pig Origins

In trying to find out where guinea pigs originate from, it is incredible to think that the Inca tribes in Peru were the first to domesticate this animal, early in 5000 BC. Statues of guinea pigs have been found in archaeological digs in Peru and Ecuador dating from ca. 500 BC. The tribes used the guinea pigs for their fur as well as a source of meat and took great pride in trading with the European traders such as the Dutch.

Researching their origins, it is amazing to see how far they have come from the 14th century up until today, where they are found not only in Europe and in North America, but also in all corners of the world.

This little rodent that looks like an animal without a tail was generally found to be hiding in the hills and mountains that litter the South American Andes Mountain range. The Inca tribes hunted them from the grasslands and mountainous terrains and brought them back to the tribe’s home to use for meat and to prepare the fur for trading.

The guinea pig can truly be called a world traveler as he has been around the world and won the hearts of many people in its path. In today’s society they are no longer used for their fur or meat and are typically found in a cage or dwelling inside a loving family’s home.

Therefore, how this little animal come to be thought of as "pigs" is not clear. They are built somewhat like a pig, with a large head relative to the body, a stout neck, and a rounded rump with no tail of any consequence; some of the sounds they emit are very similar to those made by pigs, and they spend a large amount of time eating. They can survive for long periods in small quarters, like a 'pig pen', and that's way they were easily transported on ships to Europe.

The animal's name carries connotations of it being a pig in many languages. The German word for them is Meerschweinchen, literally "little sea pigs" (sailing ships stopping to re-provision in the New World would pick up stores of guinea pigs, which provided an easily transportable source of fresh meat; Meerschwein = porpoise, another food source for sailors). The Welsh term is mochyn cwta ('little pig'), the French Cochon d'Inde (Indian pig); the Dutch used to call it guinees biggetje (Guinean piglet). In Italian, the term is either Porcellino d'India (Little Indian Pig) or Cavia Peruviana (Peruvian Cavy). This is not universal; for example, the common Spanish word is conejillo de Indias (little rabbit of India / the Indies).

The scientific name of the common species is Cavia porcellus, with porcellus being Latin for "little pig". Cavia is derived from Portuguese çavia (now savia) from the Tupi word saujá, meaning "rat".

The origin of "guinea" in "guinea pig" is a little bit harder to explain. One theory is that the animals were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think they had originated there. "Guinea" was also frequently used in English to refer generally to any far-off, unknown country, and so the name may simply be a reference to the animal's foreignness.

Another theory suggests the "guinea" in the name is a corruption of "Guiana", an area in South America, though the animals are not native to that region. A common misconception is that they were so named because they were sold as the closest thing to a pig one could get for a guinea; this theory doesn't have a solid base because the guinea was first struck in England in 1663, and William Harvey is known to have used the term "Ginny-pig" as early as 1653. Others believe "guinea" may be an alteration of the word Coney; guinea pigs were referred to as "pig coneys" in Edward Topsell's 1607 treatise on quadrupeds.