The tailless spiny guinea pig is a type of terrestrial medium to large herbivorous rodent, and is a member of the only genus in the tailless spiny porpoise family, the tailless spiny porpoise genus. Tailless spiny guinea pigs are distributed in Central and South America, resembling spiny porpoises in appearance, but with a larger snout and light colored spots and horizontal lines on the body. The tailless spiny guinea pig has a length of 50-77 centimeters, excluding a short tail of 13-23 centimeters. It weighs 6-14 kilograms and is the sixth largest rodent in the world. Similar to guinea pigs, they have square heads, small ears, sides with spotted and striped patterns, and almost invisible tails.