Red-rumped Agouti
Dasyprocta leporina
Makushi name: Akuri, Maikupiyu, Ewaropaimî, Iwoto, Kanskiîmî, Kusiwî
Creole name: Accurrie, Akuri
Size: body=50 cm; weight=3.5 kg
Description: Medium-sized, long-legged rodent with large, rectangular head–rather like a short-eared rabbit on stilts. Head, back, and shoulders grey-black, with crest of black hairs on neck and shoulders; contrasting rump bright orangish-red and covered with long erectile hairs; belly grizzled grey; tiny, inconspicuous tail.
Activity: Diurnal (most active in early morning or late afternoon), terrestrial.
Habits: Solitary, or in male-female pairs. Feeds on nuts, seeds and fruit, and sometimes buries its food in shallow pits for later use. Easiest to observe at dawn or dusk near fruiting trees or traveling along habitually used paths. Calls include barks, grunts, and squeals, and may drum its hindfeet on the ground in alarm.
Habitat: Primary or secondary forest. Occurs throughout the forest, although most common in areas of dense brush or undergrowth, and near streams or swamps.
Signs: Distinctive tracks 25 mm (forefoot) to 30 mm (hindfoot) in width. Print of hindfoot with three elongated toes and pointed claws, forefoot showing three or four toes, depending on depth of the print.
Status: Locally common in Iwokrama.
Distribution in Iwokrama