Table 1.

Ecological and reproductive data for 26 investigated Hystricognath species and the five outgroups (marked with an asterisk *); number of specimens sampled (n). Data from Sherman et al. (1991), Nowak (1999), Lacey et al. (2000), Hutchins et al. (2003), and Mess (2007)

Scientific name	n	Adult body length (cm)	Adult body mass (kg)	Age to maturity (months)
Marmota marmota*	20	30–60	3–7.5	24
Castor fiber*	24	60–80	12–25	18–24
Ondatra zibethicus*	30	22.9–32.5	0.68–1.8	1.5–2
Nannospalax ehrenbergi*	21	28–65	0.1–0.22	24
Rhizomys sumatrensis*	13	23–48	1–4	5
Thryonomys swinderianus	31	35–61	4–7	12
Hystrix cristata	20	60–93	10–30	8–18
Hystrix brachyura	14	60–93	10–30	8–18
Atherurus africanus	10	36.5–57	1.5–4	24
Bathyergus suillus	10	8–33	0.64–0.93	12
Sphiggurus villosus	23	28–65	0.5–1.34	19
Sphiggurus insidiosus	11	28–65	0.5–1.34	19
Erethizon dorsatum	19	64.5–80	3.5–7	30
Coendou prehensilis	26	30–60	0.9–5	19
Cuniculus paca	30	50–77	7–12	12
Myoprocta acouchy	13	45–70	0.6–1.3	12
Dasyprocta leporina	31	41.5–62	1.3–4	6.5
Dasyprocta fuliginosa	9	41.5–62	1.3–4	6.5
Kerodon rupestris	16	38	1	5
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris	35	106–134	35–66	15
Dolichotis patagonum	32	69–75	8–9	8
Galea spixii	17	15–20	0.3–0.6	2–3
Cavia porcellus	37	22–36	0.7–1.2	2–3
Cavia aperea	16	22–36	0.4–0.6	2–3
Spalacopus cyanus	8	11.5–16	0.06–0.12	8
Octodon degus	16	12.5–19	0.17–0.3	6
Proechimys cuvieri	24	26–30	0.3–0.38	5
Makalata armata	11	17–24	0.15–0.4	?
Myocastor coypus	32	43–63.5	5–10	3–7
Capromys pilorides	9	33–45	1–2	10
Chinchilla lanigera	20	22.5–38	0.5–0.8	8