January 8, 2023 – Theme Week Day 1

We’re kicking off the first theme week of 2024 this week! This theme week was inspired by a category on Jeopardy a few months back. The category was “Misnomers”, which is basically a wrong or unsuitable name for something. Today we’re starting with Guinea Pigs – which are neither from Guinea nor related in any way to pigs.
Why these cute little rodents are called Guinea Pigs is a bit of a mystery. One possible explanation is that they were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think that’s where they were from. Back then, the word “guinea” was used for any far-off, unknown country, so it may have been a colorful reference to their exotic origins. One common misconception is that they got their name because they were sold for the price of a guinea coin. However, guinea coins weren’t struck in England until 1663, while the name “guinea pig” was used as early as 1653.
Why they’re called “pigs” is also unknown. They are kind of built like pigs, with large heads, stout necks, with no tail of any consequence. They also make similar noises as pigs and spend a lot of their time eating.
Guinea Pigs are actually native to the Andes in South America. They were first domesticated around 5000 BC as livestock used for meat, and they’re still eaten in some parts of the world. They’re large for rodents, typically weighing between 1.5 and 2.6 pounds and measuring between 8 and 10 inches long. The longest-lived guinea pig was 14 years, 10 months, and 2 weeks old.
Spanish, Dutch, and English traders brought guinea pigs to Europe in the 16th century. They quickly became popular exotic pets among the upper classes and royalty, including Queen Elizabeth I. They’re still popular pets today, thanks to their docile nature, friendliness to handling and feeding, and the relative ease of caring for them. They are very active, however, and can be awake for up to 20 hours a day. They are very social creatures and thrive in groups of two or more. When they get excited, they can jump straight up and down and spin in mid-air in a move that’s known as “pop-corning”.
They’ve been used in biological experiments since the 17th century. They were used so frequently as model organisms in the 19th and 20th centuries that the term “guinea pig” came to describe a human test subject. While they’ve been mostly replaced in the lab with other rodents like mice and rats, they are still used in research studies, primarily for medical conditions like juvenile diabetes, tuberculosis, and scurvy. Learn more here.