Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
June 12, 1811
Primary Source Reference:
Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 55
Notes:
The agouti is any of about a dozen species of tropical American rodents in the genus Dasyprocta that are native to Central America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. The Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) is pictured here.
In his "Walk through the Philada. Museum" (1805), pp. 28-29, Peale noted that the agouti "Belongs to South America, it cannot bear the cold air of this country."
Specimen Type:
Living/Live (presumably eventually taxidermied/preserved)
Peale's Common Name:
Aguti
Current Common Name:
Agouti
Current Scientific Name
Dasyprocta
