I’d long wondered why guinea pigs are called marmots (モルモット) in Japanese and fnally got around to looking into it. Turns out that marmots encompass 15 species of large rodents with characteristically short but robust legs, enlarged claws well adapted to digging, stout bodies and large heads - sort of like the Donald Trump of rodents.
Anyway, next year on the Asian zodiac (eto, 干支) is the year of the rat, so Kumamoto Zoo has brought in some guinea pigs, which are not rats (and rats aren’t even members of the marmot family) to celebrate, but they’re more docile and easier to see, so who cares about zoology? (Though you’d think a zoo might.) They will be ón display from 11/16 through the New Year if you want photos to celebrate the Year of the Rat with an animal that is not at all a rat. - William
