Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Cavia porcellus
cuy, Guinea pig
The first record was in 1984 in the farming area in Santa Cruz Island, San Cristobal and Islabela. No recorded in wildlife. The present population status is unknow.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Caviidae
Genus
Cavia
Species
porcellus
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1937
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Animals for breeding
Introduced status: Human dependent
Invasive status: No data
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Present on Santa Cruz, San Cristobal and Isabela
- Hoeck, H.N. (1984) Introduced fauna. In: Perry, R. (ed.): Key environments: Galápagos. Pergamon Press, Oxford, p. 233-246.
- Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G. Carrión, V., Zabala, J., Buitrón, P. & Milstead, B. (2007) Status of introduced vertebrates in Galapagos. Galapagos Report 2006–2007. Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, p. 136–141.
- Patry, M. (2002) Estatus de vertebrados introducidos en las islas mayores de Galápagos y estrategias de manejo. En: Fundación Natura: Informe Galápagos 2001-2002. Quito, Ecuador.
- Phillips, R. B. D.A. Wiedenfeld and H.L. Snell (2012) Current status of alien vertebrates in the Galápagos Islands: invasion history, distribution, and potential impacts. Biol Invasions (2012) 14:461–480 DOI 10.1007/s10530-011-0090-z
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Cavia porcellus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5207. Accessed 2 November 2026.