Paca

A paca is a member of the genus Cuniculus of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. They are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and barely visible tails.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama has studied the possibilities of developing the paca as a viable high-priced food supply for the tropics.

Evolutionary background

Pacas originated in South America and are one of the few mammal species that successfully emigrated to North America after the Great American Interchange 3 million years ago. They were formerly grouped with the agoutis in the family Dasyproctidae, subfamily Agoutinae, but were given full family status because they differ in the number of toes, the shape of the skull, and coat patterning.

Description

Pacas are 50–77 cm (20–30 in) in length, excluding the 13–23 cm (5.1–9.1 in) short tail, weigh 6–14 kg (13–31 lb), and are the sixth-largest rodents in the world. Similar to guinea pigs, they have square heads, small ears, sides patterned with spots and stripes, and virtually invisible tails.

PACA

PACA or Paca may refer to:

See also

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (French pronunciation: ​[pʁɔ.vɑ̃s alp kot da.zyʁ]; Provençal: Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur; ) or PACA is one of the 13 regions of France.

It is made up of:

It encompasses six departments in south-eastern France, bounded to the east by the Italian border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the principality of Monaco, to the north by Rhône-Alpes, and to the west by Languedoc-Roussillon, with the Rhône river marking its westernmost border. The six departments are:

The region logo displays the coat of arms created in the 1990s and which combines the coats of arms of the old provinces making up Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.