High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The tuco-tucos are members of a group of rodents that belong to the family Ctenomyidae. The tuco-tucos belong to a single genus: Ctenomys, but they include some 60 different species. The relationships among the species are debated by taxonomists. Their closest relatives are degus and other octodontids (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). All species of tuco-tuco are found in South America. The tuco-tucos of South America have an ecological role equivalent to that of the pocket gophers of North America.