A paca (from Tupí paka) is a member of the genus Cuniculus of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. Pacas are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and barely visible tails. Pacas are eaten by people in Belize, where they are known as gibnut (and also, having been served to Queen Elizabeth II, as "the royal rat"). In the Amazon basin they are known as majás. In Guyanese English they are known as labba, from the Lokono language. In Trinidad they are known as lappe and are highly prized as game animals, the cooked meat being considered quite a delicacy among wildmeat enthusiasts.
Scientific name
Because Brisson's 1762 work did not consistently apply binominal nomenclature, the generic name Cuniculus as published there was unavailable under the usual provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Consequently, the replacement name Agouti and the family-group name Agoutidae came into use (despite the fact that this genus contains no agoutis). In 1998, however, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature exercised its plenary power to conserve eleven mammalian generic names first published by Brisson, including Cuniculus.
Evolutionary background
Pacas originated in South America and are one of the few mammal species that successfully emigrated to North America after the Great American Interchange 3 million years ago. They were formerly grouped with the agoutis in the family Dasyproctidae, as the subfamily Agoutinae, but were given full family status because they differ in the number of toes, the shape of the skull, and coat patterning.
Description
Paca
Pacas are 50–77 cm (20–30 in) in length, excluding the 13–23 cm (5–9 in) short tail, weigh 6–14 kg (13–31 lb), and are the fourteenth-largest rodents in the world. In common with guinea pigs they have square heads, small ears, sides patterned with spots and stripes, and...
