The name of these little cute animals does not correspond to their nature at all, since they belong to a detachment of rodents, and, of course, have nothing to do with pigs. With the sea, the life of these animals is also unrelated, they can not even swim.
Originally Spanish colonists called these animals rabbits. Opinions about the origin of the name “pig” exist very different. Some believe that the animals were attributed to pigs, because of sounds similar to grunting, which they publish. Others believe that because of the shape of the head.
According to the third, the name refers to the meat of animals, which tasted like a Europeans suckling pig. The fourth relates the name of guinea pigs to the way they cook their meat. The Peruvians were sucking the carcass of animals with steep boiling water to make it easier to get rid of the wool.
Similarly, they do the same with carcasses of pigs, to clear them of bristles. Interestingly, guinea pigs are still grown in Peru for meat. Dishes from these animals are served in restaurants of many Latin American countries. One of them was even captured in the picture “The Last Supper”, which is located in one of the cathedrals of the city of Cuzco (Peru).
Marine these animals are called only in Russia and Germany. In South American countries, they are called geese, in Western Europe – Peruvian mumps, and in the UK – Indian.
