The Adaptive Agouti

The Agouti is a rodent found in the Amazon RainForest. They eat seeds, nuts, fruit, leaves and roots. They have dark coarse hair that is covered in oil that shields the rain. They have sharp, hoof-like claws on their toes. This allows them to run quickly throughout the underbrush of the forest floor. They are great swimmers. But due to climate change over millions of years, they have adaptations to their new drier, desert like environment. They now have longer legs to reach higher food sources or climb small trees. They adapted to a more paw-like foot for the sandier conditions. They also no longer need the thick, coarse hair to repel water, their coat is thinner and lighter to match their environment.