Pictures and facts about the Tuco-tucos

Bolivian tuco-tuco	Conover's tuco-tuco
tawny tuco-tuco	tiny tuco-tuco
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Tuco-tucos

Order : Rodentia
Suborder : Hystricognathi
Family : Ctenomyidae
Genus : Ctenomys

Facts about the genus Ctenomys, the tuco-tucos

In South America, a burrowing rodent, the tuco-tuco, or Ctenomys, is even more subterranean in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often caught them, that they were frequently blind. (Full text)

As with many rodents, tuco-tucos are often considered pests, both for the agricultural damage they cause and also the danger to horses represented by the tunnels, which may collapse beneath the weight of one and cause a damaging fall. (Full text)

In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin discusses the lack of vision in some mammals: "In South America, a burrowing rodent, the tuco-tuco, or Ctenomys, is even more subterranean in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often caught them, that they were frequently blind; one which I kept alive was certainly in this condition, the cause, as appeared on dissection, having been inflammation of the nictitating membrane. (Full text)

Tuco tucos are the cutest! (Full text)

In South America, a burrowing rodent, the tuco-tuco, or Ctenomys, is even more subterranean in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often caught them, that they were frequently (Full text)

Abstract Ctenomys is the most numerous genus of South American subterranean rodents and one of the most karyotypically diverse clades of mammals known. (Full text)

-Tuco-tucos are herbivores that feed primarily on surface-growing vegetation (Busch et al. (Full text)

Tuco-tucos are far more speciose the coruros, even though they have the same ecology and home range. (Full text)

In South America, a burrowing rodent, the tuco-tuco, or Ctenomys, is even more subterranean in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often caught them, that they were frequently blind; one which I kept alive was certainly in this condition, the cause, as appeared on dissection, having been inflammation of the nictitating membrane. (Full text)