# Viscacha

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Group of rodents

Viscacha A southern viscacha in the Atacama Desert, Chile Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Placentalia Order: Rodentia Superfamily: Chinchilloidea Family: Chinchillidae Groups included Lagidium Meyen, 1833 Lagostomus Brookes, 1828 Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa †Eoviscaccia Chinchilla Bennett, 1829 †Pliolagostomus †Prolagostomus

**Viscacha** or **vizcacha** ([UK](/source/British_English): [/vɪˈskætʃə/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English), [US](/source/American_English): [/vɪˈskɑːtʃə/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English)) are rodents of two genera (*[Lagidium](/source/Lagidium)* and *[Lagostomus](/source/Lagostomus)*) in the family [Chinchillidae](/source/Chinchillidae). They are native to South America and [convergently](/source/Convergent_evolution) resemble [rabbits](/source/Rabbits).[1]

The five [extant](/source/Extant_taxon) species of viscacha are:

- The [Plains viscacha](/source/Plains_viscacha) (*Lagostomus maximus*), a resident of the [Pampas](/source/Pampa) of [Argentina](/source/Argentina), is easily differentiated from other viscachas by black and gray mustache-like facial markings. This species lives colonially in [warrens](/source/Warren_(burrow)) of 10 to over 100. It is very vocal and emits alarm calls. The plains viscacha can strip grassland used to graze livestock; this has caused ranchers to consider the rodent a pest species.

- *[Lagidium ahuacaense](/source/Lagidium_ahuacaense)* is a newly described species of mountain viscacha from the Ecuadorian Andes.[2]

- The [northern viscacha](/source/Northern_viscacha) (*Lagidium peruanum*) is native to the [Peruvian](/source/Peru) [Andes](/source/Andes) at elevations between the [tree line](/source/Tree_line) and the [snow line](/source/Snow_line). It is dorsally gray or brown in color, with a bushy tail and long, furry ears. This species lives in large colonies separated into individual family units, like an apartment complex. It eats a wide range of plant matter, settling for almost anything it can find growing in the harsh, rocky environment.[3]

- The [southern viscacha](/source/Southern_viscacha) (*Lagidium viscacia*), also called mountain viscacha, is similar to the northern viscacha, but its [pelage](/source/Pelage) is more red in color. It lives in similar habitat in the Andes.[3]

- [Wolffsohn's viscacha](/source/Wolffsohn's_viscacha) (*Lagidium wolffsohni*) is rarer than the other four species. It occurs in southwestern Argentina and adjacent Chile.[4][5]

		- A southern viscacha in the Sur Lipez desert, Bolivia

		- Viscacha near Salar De Uyuni, 2017

		- A viscacha warms itself in the morning sun in the Andes mountains in Chile.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Nosowitz, Dan (18 April 2013). ["Mystery Animal Contest: Who Is This Fuzzy Sniffler?"](https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/mystery-animal-contest-who-fuzzy-sniffler). *Popsci*. Popular Science. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Ledesma, K. J.; Werner, F. A.; Spotorno, A. E.; Albuja, L. H. (2009). ["A new species of Mountain Viscacha (Chinchillidae: *Lagidium* Meyen) from the Ecuadorian Andes"](http://bibdigital.epn.edu.ec/bitstream/15000/3751/1/Copia%20de%20EcuadoreanViscacha.pdf) (PDF). *Zootaxa*. **2126**: 41–57. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.11646/zootaxa.2126.1.2](https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fzootaxa.2126.1.2).[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-mou_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-mou_3-1) Werner, F. A.; Ledesma, K. J. R.; Hidalgo, B. (2006). ["Mountain vizcacha (*Lagidium* cf. *peruanum*) in Ecuador - First record of Chinchillidae from the Northern Andes"](http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/mznt/v13n2/v13n2a13.pdf) (PDF). *Mastozoología Neotropical*. **13** (2): 271–274.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SDSWV_4-0)** Gladys I. Galende & Rocío Vega (2020), "Summer diet selection of a rock specialist: the Wolffsohn´s viscacha (Lagidium wolffsohni) in protected natural area of Pinturas River, Cueva de las Manos, Patagonia, Argentina", *Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment*, **56** (2): 135–145, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/01650521.2020.1763763](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F01650521.2020.1763763)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CACC_5-0)** Galetto, Emanuel (2020), *Chinchillón Anaranjado: El Centinela Del Cañadón*

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [viscacias](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Viscachas).

- [Lydekker, Richard](/source/Richard_Lydekker) (1911). ["Viscacha"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Viscacha). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)* (11th ed.).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Viscacha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscacha) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscacha?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.