{{Short description|Species of rodent}} {{Speciesbox | name = Chacoan mara | image = Чакоанская, или чакская, или малая мара (Dolichotis salinicola), Chacoan mara, Kleiner Mara, Tierpark Berlin Friedrichsfelde, 10.2012.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Bernal, N. |date=2016 |title=''Dolichotis salinicola'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T6786A22190451 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T6786A22190451.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | fossil_range = Pleistocene–recent |parent_authority = | taxon = Dolichotis salinicola | authority = Burmeister, 1876 | range_map = Dolichotis salinicola distribution map.png | range_map_caption = | synonyms = ''Pediolagus salinicola'' }}
The '''Chacoan mara''' ('''''Dolichotis salinicola''''') or '''Chacoan cavy''' is a relatively large South American rodent of the cavy family.<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Hystricognathi | id = 13400215 | page = 1555}}</ref> They are a close relative of the better known Patagonian mara. The Chacoan mara is the sole member of the genus ''Dolichotis''.
==Taxonomy== Until recently ''Pediolagus'' was considered synonymous with ''Dolichotis'' and the Chacoan mara was a member of that genus. However, a 2020 study by the American Society of Mammalogists found significant difference between the two mara species to warrant resurrecting ''Pediolagus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Campo |first1=D.H. |title=Integrative taxonomy of extant maras supports the recognition of the genera Pediolagus and Dolichotis within the Dolichotinae (Rodentia, Caviidae) |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=2020 |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=817–834 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/gyaa038 |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/101/3/817/5836015|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription |hdl=11336/134944 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Conversely, a 2021 study indicated that ''Pediolagus'' should be included in ''Dolichotis'' alongside the fossil species ''D. chapalmalense'', ''D. major'', and ''D. intermedia'', and that the retention of ''Pediolagus'' would cause taxonomic issues and confusion for these fossil species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Madozzo‑Jaén |first1=María Carolina |last2=Pérez |first2=María Encarnación |last3=Deschamps |first3=Cecilia Marcela |title=The Oldest Species of ''Dolichotis'' (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) from the Pliocene of Argentina: Redescription and Taxonomic Status of ''"Orthomyctera" chapalmalense'' |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |date=19 August 2021 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=995–1013 |doi=10.1007/s10914-021-09559-4|hdl=11336/166306 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN continue to recognize this species as a member of ''Dolichotis''.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /><ref>{{cite mdd|id=1001208|title=''Dolichotis salinicola'' Burmeister, 1876|access-date=18 December 2024}}</ref>
==Habitat== The Chacoan mara lives in the South American Chaco, the dry thorny forests and grasslands of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Maras dig a burrow to sleep in at night.
==Ecology== The Chacoan mara eat grasses and other herbage. They will eat nearly any available vegetation. Specifically, they select forbs, grasses, succulents, and trees in the dry season and grasses in the wet season.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chillo |first1=Verónica |last2=Rodríguez |first2=Daniela |last3=Ojeda |first3=Ricardo A. |title=Niche partitioning and coexistence between two mammalian herbivores in the Dry Chaco of Argentina |journal=Acta Oecologica |date=November 2010 |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=611–616 |doi=10.1016/j.actao.2010.09.006|bibcode=2010AcO....36..611C }}</ref> Annual forbs are eaten in the wet season as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosati |first1=V. R. |last2=Bucher |first2=E. H. |title=Seasonal diet of the Chacoan Cavy (Pediolagus salinicola) in the western Chaco, Argentina |journal=Mammalia |date=1 January 1992 |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=567–574 |doi=10.1515/mamm.1992.56.4.567 |s2cid=84904291 }}</ref>
Despite the Chaocan cavy's close resemblance and coexistence to the Patagonian mara, they have a broader niche to allow coexistence with its relative.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodriguez |first1=D. |title=Niche partitioning and coexistence between two mammalian herbivores in the Dry Chaco of Argentina |journal=Acta Oecologica |date=2010 |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=611–616 |doi=10.1016/j.actao.2010.09.006 |bibcode=2010AcO....36..611C }}</ref> This flexibility is reflected by its subfamily's high diversity,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Madozzo-Jaén |first1=M |title=Systematic and phylogeny of Prodolichotis prisca (Caviidae, Dolichotinae) from the Northwest of Argentina (late Miocene–early Pliocene): Advances in the knowledge of the evolutionary history of maras. |journal=Comptes Rendus |date=2019 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=33–50 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2018.07.003 |doi-access= |bibcode=2019CRPal..18...33M |s2cid=134363370 |hdl=11336/122852 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> recorded as early as the late Miocene epoch.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quintana |first1=C |title=The caviomorph rodents from the San Andrés Formation, east-central Argentina, and global Late Pliocene climatic change. |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=2005 |volume=219 |issue=3–4 |pages=303–320 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.01.003 |bibcode=2005PPP...219..303V }}</ref>
Chacoan maras live in small groups of up to four animals.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Cavies Category:Mammals of Argentina Category:Mammals of Bolivia Category:Mammals of Paraguay Category:Mammals described in 1876 Category:Taxa named by Hermann Burmeister