#lagostomus maximus

[tenth-sentence]

It cannot, like the agouti, subsist on the gravelly and desert plains of Patagonia, but prefers a clayey or sandy soil, which produces a different and more abundant vegetation.

"Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, 1832-36" - Charles Darwin

[greenfrog04]

Neogene communal rodent burrow systems from central Argentina

2nd July 2023

A 'fossilized' burrow from the Cerro Azul Formation dated to the Miocene.

The burrow is believed to be shared by multiple individuals of the same species; tunnels leading to larger chambers are indicative of communal use.

Examples of 'fossilized' burrows-

Image of different burrow structures found in the Cerro Azul Formation.

Source:

(open access)

Examples of modern burrows-

Source:

The recently described burrows are proposed to belong to late miocene Lagostomus, extant lagostomus maximus or miocene species of Paedotherium. The burrows mostly favour in belonging to a late Miocene Lagostomus or lagostomus maximus.

Lagostomus -

Source:

Paedotherium-

Source:

(payment required)

This fossil provides further information of burrowing animals in the Miocene era, giving a glimpse of the possible behaviours these early mammals displayed. interesting stuff.

Source:

(payment required)

[antiqueanimals]

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, vol. 11, Mammals II. 1972. Illustrated by Peter Barrett.

1.) Plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus)

2.) Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)

3.) Long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)

4.) Prehensile-tailed hutia (Mysateles prehensilis)

5.) Hispaniolan hutia (Plagiodontia aedium)

6.) Jamaican coney (Geocapromys brownii)

7.) Nutria (Myocastor coypus)

[lovemychinchilla]

What Is a Viscacha?

If you don't know what a viscacha is, you definitely can't tell from its unusual name. So what is this mythical beast, and where might you find one?

What is a viscacha? A viscacha (or 'vizcacha') is an animal that is closely related to the chinchilla. It looks like a short-tailed chinchilla crossed with a hare, although it isn't in the same family as rabbits or hares. It has long front teeth, very long whiskers, long rounded ears, a long curly tail, thick fur and a stout body. There are several species: some live in the Andes Mountains while others live in the Argentinian 'Pampas' (plains). They are prey animals and herbivores, so mostly eat wild grasses.

Viscachas are perhaps best known for tourists easily mistaking them for chinchillas! There are even some online chinchilla guides that mistakenly use pictures of viscachas—but they're different species entirely. The guide below first details what a viscacha is and what one looks like, before looking at the different species of viscacha and whether you can get one as a pet.

What Is a Viscacha?

The viscacha (also spelled vizcacha) is a South American rodent that's closely related to the long-tailed and short-tailed chinchillas. It's so closely related that it's in the same family (Chinchillidae). There are two genuses (or 'genera') of viscacha. These are Lagidium and Lagostomus.

What Does a Viscacha Look Like?

The answer depends on which kind of viscacha you mean. But the most common kinds, i.e. the various species of mountain viscacha, look like a cross between a hare and a chinchilla. They are bigger than chinchillas, and have strong hind legs, which means they're good at jumping. They have shorter front legs/paws that they use to hold food or run on all fours.

Viscachas have distinctive fur which is brown on top and a lighter shade on the bottom; this is perhaps the easiest way to tell them apart from 'regular' chinchillas. Viscachas also have:

Thick fur like chinchillas do, to keep warm high up in the mountains

Four large front teeth (incisors)

Long ears that look more like those of a hare or a rabbit than a mouse, like a chinchilla's

A fluffy, curly tail like a squirrel

Another central difference is that viscachas are much heavier than chinchillas. They can weigh up to 6.6lbs/3kgs.

Despite looking so much like rabbits, they aren't closely related. Instead, the viscacha is very closely related to the chinchilla, hence its inclusion in the same family. It's also closely related to the chinchilla rat.

Where Does The Viscacha Live?

The viscacha's natural habitat is in South America. It lives in the same places that chinchillas do.

More specifically, it's from the Andes. The Andes are tall mountains that dominate the west coast of South America. They run all the way from the southern tip of the continent in Argentina, all the way to the north in Colombia, where South America meets Central America. And on top of being the longest mountain range in the world, they're tall, too.

Most viscacha species live high up in the Andes mountains, at elevations of 13000ft and higher. The viscacha has adapted well to this habitat: it has thick fur to keep warm, long legs to leap from one rock to another, and large ears to hear predators coming from far away.  There are other viscacha species that don't live in the mountains. The plains viscacha lives in the plains of Argentina. This species has consequently evolved to look quite different to its mountain cousins.

All viscachas live in burrows, but mountain viscachas don't dig these burrows for themselves. That's because their paws are fleshy and small, more like hands with fingernails than paws with claws. Rather than dig their own burrows, they use abandoned ones that other animals have made, or natural crevices formed in the rocks. That's what chinchillas do, too.

Plains viscachas dig their own elaborate burrow complexes, though. Locals call these viscacheras. 

What Do Viscachas Eat?

Viscachas are herbivores. They eat wild grasses, of which there are many species where they live.

To supplement this diet, viscachas likely eat nuts, seeds and roots too. Roots are particularly useful as they store water, which can be in short supply in the dry season. Nuts and seeds provide much-needed fat and protein, of which there's less in grasses. It's possible that they may also eat insects when the opportunity arises, again to supplement the diet, although this isn't clear.

The reason we don't know much about the diet of the viscacha (or the chinchilla, for that matter) is that they're secretive animals so aren't easily studied.

How Do Viscachas Reproduce?

This is another way that viscachas are similar to chinchillas. Rodents are famed for having lots of litters with lots of babies/kits/young in each one. House mice, for example, only gestate their young (are only pregnant) for twenty days, and when they give birth, they give birth to six young on average each time. Pairs can manage 200 young in a year.

Viscachas, though, have a three month gestation period. That's not unlike the long and short-tailed chinchillas, which have a 110 day gestation period. And when the viscacha has a litter, it's typically a litter of only one. This means that viscachas have 'only' two or three young a year.

What Species of Viscacha Are There?

Unlike the chinchilla, there are more than two species of viscacha. Most of these live in the Andes, while one lives in the plains of Argentina. Each species looks slightly different, for example its tail being longer or shorter, its body being thinner or stouter, or its diet not being the same.

Mountain Viscacha vs. Plains Viscacha

Like the chinchilla, there are several species of viscacha.

The plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus) is from Argentina. Like the chinchilla, it lives in large colonies, and is very communicative. Individuals can make alarm calls to warn the rest of the group of approaching predators. As the name suggests, it lives in the plains ('pampas') of Argentina, unlike the rest of the viscacha and chinchilla species.

The northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum) is from the Peruvian Andes. This species lives in groups too, but smaller groups almost like families that make up larger communities.

The southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia), also known as the mountain viscacha, is similar to the northern viscacha, but its fur is more red in color. It too lives in the Andes, only further south than the northern viscacha.

Lagidium ahuacaense is a recently-discovered species. It loves in the mountains of Ecuador, and was only first discovered by modern science in 2005. Because it lives hundreds of miles away from the nearest extant viscacha population centers, it's thought that only a dozen or so remain in the wild.

Wolffsohn's viscacha (Lagidium wolffsohni) is a rare species from Argentina and Chile. It lives in the mountains, but not much else is known about it.

As they live in such remote places, it's still possible that there are undiscovered viscacha species in the Andes. Given that the last species was only discovered in 2005, that's not a remote possibility.

Plains Viscacha (Lagostumus Maximus)

The plains viscacha is the most distinctive of all the viscachas. It is a slightly different shape, but most obviously has completely different markings. It has alternating light and dark stripes running horizontally across its face. It looks almost like a raccoon or a badger. In its overall shape, it's like a mountain viscacha, hare-like; but its head is almost shaped like a guinea pig's (albeit bigger).

This species lives in a special kind of plain in Argentina. This plain is called the Pampas, coming from the native Quechua word 'pampa', meaning 'plain'. It's an area of lowlands that covers almost 500,000 square miles, and includes the most populous area of Argentina, plus all of Uruguay and part of southern Brazil.

Unlike the Andes, the Pampas is a temperate region, which is partly why the vizcachas here don't look like the ones from the mountains. Winters here are mild, with the temperature not normally dipping below freezing unless there's a cold snap; and summers are hot, much hotter than viscachas and chinchillas are normally used to. If you put a regular chinchilla here in the summer, it would overheat in minutes!

Is a Viscacha a Kind Of Chinchilla?

This is an interesting point. When people talk about 'chinchillas', they don't mean viscachas. These animals aren't well known outside of their native range in South America. But strictly speaking, viscachas are a kind of chinchilla. That's because they're a part of the Chinchillidae family. They were placed there because they share a recent common ancestor with chinchillas, which is why they share many of the same features.

How Are Chinchillas and Viscachas Related?

The great thing about this question is that nobody knows the precise answer.

Despite chinchillas being such a popular subject of scientific study (and a popular pet to boot), fossil ancestors of any chinchilla species have yet to be found. That applies to short tails, long tails and all mountain viscacha species. As such, it's assumed that they have a common ancestor because a) they're so similar and b) they live in the same place; but as for precisely when they diverged into separate species, and which species they both came from, isn't known.

The plains viscacha on the other hand does have relatives in the fossil record. Fossils from the Early Miocene Epoch, which was between 23.8 and 20.5 million years ago, have been found in South America. The genus that the plains viscacha is a part of (Lagostominae) contains two other genera which are now extinct: Pliolagostomus and Prolagostomus. There are many species in each of these genera, many of which lived further west towards the Andes than today's plains viscacha. Little is known about them.

Can You Get a Pet Viscacha?

Viscachas aren't currently kept as pets. They're larger than chinchillas, and haven't been successfully domesticated. If they were, they would have similar needs to pet chinchillas: they would likely thrive on hay, and would need temperature- and humidity-controlled cages with lots of room to move and jump. Like chinchillas, they would also do best in pairs.

If anything, viscachas are seen as pests. That's because they can strip the ground bare of vegetation quicker than any farm animal, and as there are lots of cattle and similar farm animals raised in South America, that's a big problem. Many farmers shoot them on sight like other farmers shoot rabbits.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

#chinchillas #chinchillafaqs

[estudianconmiidentidadcultu-blog]

VIZCACHA, el conejo de los andes

Nombre científico: Lagidium viscaciaCategoría: EspecieEspecie: L. viscacia; Molina, 1782Clasificación superior: LagidiumFamilia: ChinchillidaeReino: Animalia

CARACTERÍSTICAS DE LA VIZCACHA

Es posible que dos franjas negras atraviesen la cara de la vizcacha, haciendo su rostro mucho más llamativo y curioso. Sus extremidades son cortas, pero sus dedos y uñas son lo suficientemente fuertes para excavar y construir una madriguera que la mantenga protegida. Una característica de su anatomía es que la cola puede despegarse con facilidad, lo que le salva de ser atrapado regularmente.

Este lagostónido prefiere moverse durante la noche, lo que aunado a su tamaño le permite desplazarse con relativa agilidad. El color del pelaje en las especies que se crían en el Norte de Chile es amarillento, pero las del Sur suelen ser grises. La zona ventral es más clara, y la región media dorsal está atravesada por una banda negra.

CLASIFICACIÓN DE LA VIZCACHA

El nombre científico  de la vizcacha es Lagidiumviscacia. Su especie puede dividirse en dos géneros: Lagostomus y Lagidium. Se cuentan entre ellos:

Lagostomus Maximus o vizcacha de las llanuras. Es propia de la parte Sur de Argentina, Paraguay y Bolivia.

Vizcacha de Cariamanga. Puede hallarse únicamente en Ecuador.

Lagidium Peruanum o Vizcacha Montesa. Habita en Perú.

Lagidium Vizcacia o Vizcacha Montesa del Sur. Esta se encuentra en el extremo sur de Perú, Bolivia, Chile y al Oeste de Argentina. También se le conoce como chinchillón.

Lagidium Wolffsohni o Vizcacha montesa naranja. Se avista en el Sur de Argentina y Chile.

ALIMENTACIÓN DE LA VIZCACHA

La vizcacha es una animal herbívoro que disfruta de todos los vegetales que encuentre a su alcance, aunque muestra predilección por hierbas y semillas. Suele buscar su alimento durante la noche y convive en grupos de al menos 50 individuos, que se amontonan en túneles cavados por ellos mismos en lomas de terrenos firmes.

Dado que disfruta comer cualquier vegetal, tiene tendencia a atacar cultivos, por lo que su caza está permitida durante cualquier época del año en países como Argentina, pero entre ellas tienen métodos para resguardarse. Justo cuando están listas para buscar sustento, se adelanta el macho más viejo de la madriguera, el vizcachón, para verificar que no haya peligro. Posteriormente, salen alrededor de 50 de los miembros del grupo para recolectar sus nutrientes.

También ingiere vegetales halófilas, es decir, los que crecen en terrenos con mucha sal. Cuando se encuentra en el desierto la vizcacha no toma agua, pues la obtiene de los alimentos que consume. Si la región donde reside tiene cactus, recoge el vital líquido de ellos.

HÁBITOS

Es de hábitos nocturnos; vive en grupos de hasta 50 individuos en túneles que cava en lomas de terreno firme. Se alimenta de todo tipo de vegetales y ataca los cultivos, por lo que su caza está permitida en toda época en la Argentina. La vizcachas salen al caer la tarde, precedidas por el macho más viejo, el "vizcachón", que se asoma primero para comprobar si hay peligro en los alrededores de las cuevas.

DONDE VIVE LA VIZCACHA

El nido de las vizcachas es conocido comúnmente como viszcacheras. Están compuestas por túneles subterráneos que pueden contar con hasta 20 metros de espacio y, por lo general, son construidos en sitios altos. Este animal es sumamente “amable” pues no tiene inconveniente en compartir su hogar con otros seres como zorros y lechuzas, ya que cada estructura tiene alrededor de 15 entradas diferentes.

SITUACIÓN ACTUAL DE LA VIZCACHA

En épocas antiguas, las vizcachas se podían observar en grandes cantidades por las sabanas del Sur de Paraguay, Argentina y Bolivia, ya sea en el desierto o sobre la costa. También en las montañas de los Andes, donde se registró que puede vivir a 5000 m de altitud.

Frecuentemente buscan tierra seca, con presencia excesiva de piedras. Escogen estos sitios porque allí tienen menos probabilidades de toparse con depredadores, pero si pasa, les resultará más fácil esconderse.

Este peludo roedor sufre un exterminio habitual, que data de 1907, ya que es considerado por parte de los productores agropecuarios como una competencia contra los bovinos, sin mencionar que el ácido de su orina mata las plantas.

La situación es tan seria que en Argentina se cumple un sistema de primas para estimular su caza. No obstante, ya no parece ser necesario ya que el número de vizcachas se ha reducido considerablemente.

AMENAZAS PARA SU SUPERVIVENVIA

Estos animales han sido cazados continuamente por los productores agropecuarios desde 1907. En Argentina, inclusive, fue implantado un sistema de primas para estimular su caza pero el mismo ya no es necesario ya que el número de vizcachas ha sido muy reducido.

[professoraevelyn]

Chinchila

"

Chinchila é o nome popular dado à família de roedores chamada Chinchillidae, distribuída em três gêneros. São animais nativos da região dos Andes, na América do Sul.

Características

As chinchilas são roedores que pesam de 500 gramas a 8 Kg e são herbívoros. Sua grande quantidade de pelos auxilia na proteção contra predadores, como pulgas, além de regular a temperatura corpórea nas regiões naturais, que são muito quentes de dia e muito frio à noite. Algumas espécies são exímias escavadoras, formando galerias embaixo da terra. São animais sociais que vivem em grupos de até uma centena de indivíduos.

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Caçadas desde o século XVI para uso da pele em roupas, chegou a ser bastante rara no século XX. Em 1918 um engenheiro norte-americano, Mathias Chapman iniciou a reprodução em cativeiro, só então na década de 50 estes animais passaram a ser comercializados e hoje é um animal de estimação popular. Atualmente, é difícil de encontra-las na vida selvagem. Possui abundância de pelos macios, devido ao fato de cada folículo ter em torno de 60 pelos saindo dele.

Chinchila. Foto: Dmytro Leschenko / Shutterstock.com

Chinchilla chinchilla

São as chinchilas de cauda curta que habitavam o Peru, Bolívia, Chile e Argentina. Podem atingir até 48 cm de comprimento, contando com a cauda que possui 20 vértebtras. Pesam de 500 a 800 gramas. A reprodução ocorre de seis em seis meses, com uma gestação de 128 dias uma ou duas vezes ao ano. Vivem até 20 anos em cativeiro e 10 anos em vida livre. Existem criações desta espécie para uso da sua pele, como fazendas nos E.U.A voltadas para produção de casacos. Só na última década houve declínio de 90% da sua população selvagem, sendo extintas em muitos lugares (Peru e Bolívia). É classificada como criticamente ameaçada de extinção, pela IUCN.

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Chinchilla lanigera

São as chinchilas de calda longa. Ocorrem nas montanhas do Norte chileno. Pesa de 500g a 800g. A espécie apresenta dimorfismo sexual, sendo que a fêmea é maior do que o macho e podem ter até duas ninhadas por ano, gerando de um a seis filhotes em cada uma. A gestação dura em torno de 111 dias. Vivem de 10 a 13 anos, podendo viver mais tempo em cativeiro. Comem folhas, mas podem comer insetos e ovos oportunamente. Estão “em perigo”, pela IUCN e ainda sofrem pressão de caça pela sua pele, em seu habitat natural. É comum sua criação em cativeiro.

Chinchilla doméstica

Híbrido criado em cativeiro, entre as duas espécies anteriores, para comércio de pelos, ou como Pet.

Lagidium peruanum

Vizcacha das montanhas vive nas montanhas dos Andes, no Peru. Pesam de 900 gramas a 1,6 Kg e medem de 20 a 40 cm de comprimento. Se reproduzem uma vez ao ano, na temporada reprodutiva que vai de outubro a dezembro. A gestação dura em torno de 140 dias e têm um filhote por vez. Chega aos 19 anos em cativeiro. Não sofre tanta pressão de caça, pela sua pele, por ser pequeno.

Lagidium viscacia

Encontradas no extremo Sul do Peru, Bolívia, Chile e Argentina. Podem pesar até 3 kg, reproduzem entre outubro e dezembro, com uma gestação que dura de 120 a 140 dias, gerando até dois filhotes. Podem viver até os 19 anos de idade. Comem gramíneas, musgos e líquens. A população está em declínio, por caça à procura de sua pele e carne.

Lagostomus maximus

Chamada de Viscacha, é encontrada no Paraguai, Argentina e Bolívia. É a maior das chinchilas, podendo medir até 100 cm, considerando corpo e calda. O macho pode ser até quatro vezes maior do que a fêmea e chegam a pesar 8 Kg. Elas se reproduzem uma ou duas vezes ao ano, com uma gestação de até 166 dias e ninhadas de até 4 filhotes. Comem sementes e grama, mas em cativeiro se alimentam de qualquer tipo de vegetação. São caçadas por humanos, pela sua pele e carne e por ser praga na agricultura. Mas seu estado de conservação é pouco preocupante, pela IUCN. Podem viver por 9 anos.

Referências:

https://animaldiversity.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_chinchilla

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchilla_chinchilla

The post Chinchila appeared first on InfoEscola.

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[cool-critters]

Plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus)

The plains viscacha is a species of rodents in the family Chinchillidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. They construct elaborate burrows that house successive colonies for decades. It has an average head and a body length over 500 mm, with the tail usually a little less than 200 mm long. Members of a social group share a common foraging area around the communal burrow system, and feed on a variety of grasses and forbs, occasionally browsing on low shrubs.

photo credits: wiki, wiki, biolib

[gergarnero]

LAS CIUDADES SUBTERRÁNEAS DE LAS VIZCACHAS

LAS CIUDADES SUBTERRÁNEAS DE LAS VIZCACHAS

  SE CONOCEN DOS TIPOS MUY DIFERENCIADOS DE VIZCACHA: LA DE MONTAÑA Y LA DE LLANURA. LA PRIMERA ( LAGIDIUM MAXIMUS), MÁS PARECIDA A LA CHINCHILLA, PESA MENOS QUE ÉSTA ( UNOS 2KG) Y TIENE LA COLA MÁS LARGA. SE ENCUENTRA EN LAS ALTIPLANICIES DE LA CADENA ANDINA Y FRECUENTA LAS ZONAS ROCOSAS, EN CUYAS ANFRACTUOSIDADES ENCUENTRA REFUGIO. SE CONOCE MUY POCO SOBRE SU BIOLOGÍA Y COSTUMBRES DE ESTA…

[lovemychinchilla]

What Is a Viscacha?

If you don't know what a viscacha is, you definitely can't tell from its unusual name. So what is this mythical beast, and where might you find one?

What is a viscacha? A viscacha (or 'vizcacha') is an animal that is closely related to the chinchilla. It looks like a short-tailed chinchilla crossed with a hare, although it isn't in the same family as rabbits or hares. It has long front teeth, very long whiskers, long rounded ears, a long curly tail, thick fur and a stout body. There are several species: some live in the Andes Mountains while others live in the Argentinian 'Pampas' (plains). They are prey animals and herbivores, so mostly eat wild grasses.

Viscachas are perhaps best known for tourists easily mistaking them for chinchillas! There are even some online chinchilla guides that mistakenly use pictures of viscachas—but they're different species entirely. The guide below first details what a viscacha is and what one looks like, before looking at the different species of viscacha and whether you can get one as a pet.

What Is a Viscacha?

The viscacha (also spelled vizcacha) is a South American rodent that's closely related to the long-tailed and short-tailed chinchillas. It's so closely related that it's in the same family (Chinchillidae). There are two genuses (or 'genera') of viscacha. These are Lagidium and Lagostomus.

What Does a Viscacha Look Like?

[caption id="attachment_2738" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image courtesy of Alexandre Buisse.[/caption]

The answer depends on which kind of viscacha you mean. But the most common kinds, i.e. the various species of mountain viscacha, look like a cross between a hare and a chinchilla. They are bigger than chinchillas, and have strong hind legs, which means they're good at jumping. They have shorter front legs/paws that they use to hold food or run on all fours.

Viscachas have distinctive fur which is brown on top and a lighter shade on the bottom; this is perhaps the easiest way to tell them apart from 'regular' chinchillas. Viscachas also have:

Thick fur like chinchillas do, to keep warm high up in the mountains

Four large front teeth (incisors)

Long ears that look more like those of a hare or a rabbit than a mouse, like a chinchilla's

A fluffy, curly tail like a squirrel

Another central difference is that viscachas are much heavier than chinchillas. They can weigh up to 6.6lbs/3kgs.

Despite looking so much like rabbits, they aren't closely related. Instead, the viscacha is very closely related to the chinchilla, hence its inclusion in the same family. It's also closely related to the chinchilla rat.

Where Does The Viscacha Live?

[caption id="attachment_1951" align="alignright" width="300"] Image courtesy of Jaime E. Jimenez.[/caption]

The viscacha's natural habitat is in South America. It lives in the same places that chinchillas do.

More specifically, it's from the Andes. The Andes are tall mountains that dominate the west coast of South America. They run all the way from the southern tip of the continent in Argentina, all the way to the north in Colombia, where South America meets Central America. And on top of being the longest mountain range in the world, they're tall, too.

Most viscacha species live high up in the Andes mountains, at elevations of 13000ft and higher. The viscacha has adapted well to this habitat: it has thick fur to keep warm, long legs to leap from one rock to another, and large ears to hear predators coming from far away.  There are other viscacha species that don't live in the mountains. The plains viscacha lives in the plains of Argentina. This species has consequently evolved to look quite different to its mountain cousins.

All viscachas live in burrows, but mountain viscachas don't dig these burrows for themselves. That's because their paws are fleshy and small, more like hands with fingernails than paws with claws. Rather than dig their own burrows, they use abandoned ones that other animals have made, or natural crevices formed in the rocks. That's what chinchillas do, too.

Plains viscachas dig their own elaborate burrow complexes, though. Locals call these viscacheras. 

What Do Viscachas Eat?

Viscachas are herbivores. They eat wild grasses, of which there are many species where they live.

To supplement this diet, viscachas likely eat nuts, seeds and roots too. Roots are particularly useful as they store water, which can be in short supply in the dry season. Nuts and seeds provide much-needed fat and protein, of which there's less in grasses. It's possible that they may also eat insects when the opportunity arises, again to supplement the diet, although this isn't clear.

The reason we don't know much about the diet of the viscacha (or the chinchilla, for that matter) is that they're secretive animals so aren't easily studied.

How Do Viscachas Reproduce?

This is another way that viscachas are similar to chinchillas. Rodents are famed for having lots of litters with lots of babies/kits/young in each one. House mice, for example, only gestate their young (are only pregnant) for twenty days, and when they give birth, they give birth to six young on average each time. Pairs can manage 200 young in a year.

Viscachas, though, have a three month gestation period. That's not unlike the long and short-tailed chinchillas, which have a 110 day gestation period. And when the viscacha has a litter, it's typically a litter of only one. This means that viscachas have 'only' two or three young a year.

What Species of Viscacha Are There?

Unlike the chinchilla, there are more than two species of viscacha. Most of these live in the Andes, while one lives in the plains of Argentina. Each species looks slightly different, for example its tail being longer or shorter, its body being thinner or stouter, or its diet not being the same.

Mountain Viscacha vs. Plains Viscacha

Like the chinchilla, there are several species of viscacha.

The plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus) is from Argentina. Like the chinchilla, it lives in large colonies, and is very communicative. Individuals can make alarm calls to warn the rest of the group of approaching predators. As the name suggests, it lives in the plains ('pampas') of Argentina, unlike the rest of the viscacha and chinchilla species.

The northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum) is from the Peruvian Andes. This species lives in groups too, but smaller groups almost like families that make up larger communities.

The southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia), also known as the mountain viscacha, is similar to the northern viscacha, but its fur is more red in color. It too lives in the Andes, only further south than the northern viscacha.

Lagidium ahuacaense is a recently-discovered species. It loves in the mountains of Ecuador, and was only first discovered by modern science in 2005. Because it lives hundreds of miles away from the nearest extant viscacha population centers, it's thought that only a dozen or so remain in the wild.

Wolffsohn's viscacha (Lagidium wolffsohni) is a rare species from Argentina and Chile. It lives in the mountains, but not much else is known about it.

As they live in such remote places, it's still possible that there are undiscovered viscacha species in the Andes. Given that the last species was only discovered in 2005, that's not a remote possibility.

Plains Viscacha (Lagostumus Maximus)

[caption id="attachment_2740" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A plains viscacha.[/caption]

The plains viscacha is the most distinctive of all the viscachas. It is a slightly different shape, but most obviously has completely different markings. It has alternating light and dark stripes running horizontally across its face. It looks almost like a raccoon or a badger. In its overall shape, it's like a mountain viscacha, hare-like; but its head is almost shaped like a guinea pig's (albeit bigger).

This species lives in a special kind of plain in Argentina. This plain is called the Pampas, coming from the native Quechua word 'pampa', meaning 'plain'. It's an area of lowlands that covers almost 500,000 square miles, and includes the most populous area of Argentina, plus all of Uruguay and part of southern Brazil.

Unlike the Andes, the Pampas is a temperate region, which is partly why the vizcachas here don't look like the ones from the mountains. Winters here are mild, with the temperature not normally dipping below freezing unless there's a cold snap; and summers are hot, much hotter than viscachas and chinchillas are normally used to. If you put a regular chinchilla here in the summer, it would overheat in minutes!

Is a Viscacha a Kind Of Chinchilla?

This is an interesting point. When people talk about 'chinchillas', they don't mean viscachas. These animals aren't well known outside of their native range in South America. But strictly speaking, viscachas are a kind of chinchilla. That's because they're a part of the Chinchillidae family. They were placed there because they share a recent common ancestor with chinchillas, which is why they share many of the same features.

How Are Chinchillas and Viscachas Related?

The great thing about this question is that nobody knows the precise answer.

Despite chinchillas being such a popular subject of scientific study (and a popular pet to boot), fossil ancestors of any chinchilla species have yet to be found. That applies to short tails, long tails and all mountain viscacha species. As such, it's assumed that they have a common ancestor because a) they're so similar and b) they live in the same place; but as for precisely when they diverged into separate species, and which species they both came from, isn't known.

The plains viscacha on the other hand does have relatives in the fossil record. Fossils from the Early Miocene Epoch, which was between 23.8 and 20.5 million years ago, have been found in South America. The genus that the plains viscacha is a part of (Lagostominae) contains two other genera which are now extinct: Pliolagostomus and Prolagostomus. There are many species in each of these genera, many of which lived further west towards the Andes than today's plains viscacha. Little is known about them.

Can You Get a Pet Viscacha?

Viscachas aren't currently kept as pets. They're larger than chinchillas, and haven't been successfully domesticated. If they were, they would have similar needs to pet chinchillas: they would likely thrive on hay, and would need temperature- and humidity-controlled cages with lots of room to move and jump. Like chinchillas, they would also do best in pairs.

If anything, viscachas are seen as pests. That's because they can strip the ground bare of vegetation quicker than any farm animal, and as there are lots of cattle and similar farm animals raised in South America, that's a big problem. Many farmers shoot them on sight like other farmers shoot rabbits.

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