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Name : Patagonian mara ( Dolichotis patagonum )
Where it lives : Arid grasslands and brush lands in central and southerly Argentina
Patagonian maras (Dolichotis patagonum) are monogamous rodents that live in central and southern Argentina.
What it eats : Grasses , cacti , seeds , fruits , flowers and its own droppings
Why it ’s awing : Patagonian maras match for living , and males are ferociously protective of their partners , following them wherever they go to shield them from other Male and from predators .
Despite their womb-to-tomb bond , mara pairs display virtually no strong-arm contact apart from that consider during gender or when they ’re huddle together when it ’s cold .
Males occasionally sniff their partner ’s genitalia , to which the female person " usually responds by suddenly present her rump toward the male ’s face and discharging a jet of urine , " harmonize to a1974 study .
Males also pee on their partners , all the while rubbing their anal retentive glands and feces on the basis that the female previously occupied , to deter rival males . A male will " remain firm up on his hind legs and stick out a hefty K of urine forwards onto the rump of the female person , and she immediately responds by producing a jet of pee backwards onto the male ’s face , " research worker write in the report .
connect : Tufted ground squirrel : The Borneo rodent once believed to eviscerate deer and fete on their organ
Patagonian maras — which grow to just under 30 inches ( 76 centimeters ) in distance — also have a unique breeding strategy , which involves rearing their untested in communal dens shared by up to 22 pairs . female are only sexually receptive three to four clip a year during a 30 - minute window sleep with as estrus , which may explicate why the species is monogamous .
Is that a giant coney ? 👀 Nope , it ’s the Patagonian Dolichotis patagonum ! Weighing ~35 lbs ( 15.9 kg ) , this long - legged rodent can outrun an Olympian sprinter — reaching speeds of ~45 mi ( 72 km ) per hour ! It inhabits opened grasslands where it spend time basking in the Sun and foraging for nutrient . pic.twitter.com/pkZjSo911eJune 6 , 2023
— Maned wolf : A strikingly beautiful South American canid
— Indian elephantine squirrel : The ' rainbow ' rodent that is also the humankind ’s largest squirrel
— Giant 1.5 - foot - tenacious blabber that can crack open coco snap for 1st time on distant island
Estrus in Patagonian maras is so short that a male trying to mate with several female person would struggle to strike while they were hot . Monogamy , on the other hand , helps ensure successful mating by continue bonded members of a pair near together .
The hamper between a Patagonian mara brace is so potent that they can struggle to see a new mate if one of them dies , according to a 1987PhD dissertation , which documented a male " still alone " six weeks after his mate died , " despite the fact that there were several single female uncommitted . "
