Chinchilla rats or ''chinchillones'' are members of the family Abrocomidae. This family has few members compared to most rodent families, with only nine known living species. They resemble

chinchilla Chinchillas are either of two species (''Chinchilla chinchilla'' and ''Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha. They are slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mount ...

s in appearance, with a similar soft fur and silvery-grey color, but have a body structure more like a short-tailed rat. They are social, tunnel-dwelling animals, and live in the

Andes Mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. They are probably

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

, although this is not clear. They can be described as medium-sized. Stiff hairs project over the three middle digits of the rear feet. Their massive skulls narrow in the facial areas. Some molecular work suggests that, despite their appearance, they may be more closely related to octodontoids such as degus,

nutria The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of t ...

, and

tuco-tuco A tuco-tuco is a neotropical rodent in the family Ctenomyidae.Parada, A., G. D’Elia, C.J. Bidau, and E.P. Lessa. 2011. Species Groups and the Evolutionary Diversification of Tuco-Tucos, genus ''Ctenomys'' (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). ''Journal of M ...

s than they are to chinchillas and

viscacha Viscacha or vizcacha (, ) are rodents of two genera (''Lagidium'' and ''Lagostomus'') in the family Chinchillidae. They are native to South America and convergently resemble rabbits. The five extant species of viscacha are: *The plains visca ...

Etymology

The family name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ἁβροκόμης (''habrokomēs'', "with delicate hair"). The word ἁβρός (habros) means "delicate, graceful" and the word κόμη (''komē'') means "hair".

Species

*Family Abrocomidae - chinchilla rats **†'' Protabrocoma'' ***†'' Protabrocoma antigua'' **''

Abrocoma ''Abrocoma'' is a genus of abrocomid rodents found in the Andes of South America, from southern Peru to central Chile. The genus contains eight species, most of which are found in isolated mountain ranges in northwestern Argentina. The oldest fo ...

'' ***''A. bennettii'' -

Bennett's chinchilla rat Bennett's chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma bennettii'') is a species of chinchilla rat in the family Abrocomidae. It is found only in Chile where its habitat is Mediterranean-type scrub on the western side of the Andes. The IUCN has assessed its conse ...

***''A. boliviensis'' -

Bolivian chinchilla rat The Bolivian chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma boliviensis'') is a species of chinchilla rat in the family Abrocomidae. It is found only in Manuel María Caballero Province, Bolivia. Its natural habitat is the rocky areas of cloud forests in Bolivia's ...

***''A. budini'' -

Budin's chinchilla rat Budin's chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma budini'') is a species of chinchilla rat in the family Abrocomidae. Found only in Argentina, the categorization of this species was based on analysis of four specimens which were caught among the rocks in the ...

***''A. cinerea'' -

ashy chinchilla rat The ashy chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma cinerea'') is a species of chinchilla rats in the family Abrocomidae found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Description Their total length is , with the body being and the tail being . They have soft, ...

***''A. famatina'' -

Famatina chinchilla rat The Famatina chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma famatina'') is a species of chinchilla rats in the family Abrocomidae found only in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in ...

***''A. schistacea'' -

Sierra del Tontal chinchilla rat The Sierra del Tontal chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma shistacea'') is a species of chinchilla rat. Found only in Argentina, this species was once thought to be part of ''Abrocoma cinerea''. In 2002, Braun and Mares from the University of Oklahoma conf ...

***''A. uspallata'' -

Uspallata chinchilla rat The Uspallata chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma uspallata'') is a species of chinchilla rat in the family Abrocomidae native to Argentina. This species was identified in 2002, by Braun and Mares from the University of Oklahoma. Only a single specimen h ...

***''A. vaccarum'' -

Punta de Vacas chinchilla rat The Punta de Vacas chinchilla rat (''Abrocoma vaccarum''), also known as the Mendozan chinchilla rat, is a species of chinchilla rats in the family Abrocomidae. Found only in Argentina, this species was once thought to be part of ''Abrocoma cin ...

or Mendozan chinchilla rat **'' Cuscomys'' ***''C. ashaninka'' -

Asháninka arboreal chinchilla rat The Asháninka arboreal chinchilla rat (''Cuscomys ashaninka'') is a large species of chinchilla rats from the Andes of far northern Cuzco Region, Cusco in Peru. It was first scientifically described in 1999. The first specimen of this species w ...

***''C. oblativus'' -

Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat The Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat (''Cuscomys oblativus'') is a large species of South American chinchilla rats, known from skeletal remains found by members of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912. The animals were buried alongside people in a ...

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *Braun, J. K. and M. A. Mares. 2002. Systematics of the ''Abrocoma cinerea'' species complex (Rodentia: Abrocomidae), with a description of a new species of ''Abrocoma''. Journal of Mammalogy, 83:1-19. *Emmons, L. H. 1999. A new genus and species of abrocomid rodent from Peru (Rodentia: Abrocomidae). American Museum Novitas, 3279:1-14.

External links

Animal Diversity web site's chinchilla rat information

ITIS entry for Abrocomidae
Extant Miocene first appearances {{rodent-stub