Chinchilla
Rodent genus / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Chinchillas are either of two species (Chinchilla chinchilla and Chinchilla lanigera)[4] of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America.[5] They live in colonies called "herds" at high elevations up to 4,270 m (14,000 ft). Historically, chinchillas lived in an area that included parts of Bolivia, Peru and Chile, but today, colonies in the wild are known only in Chile.[6] Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae. They are also related to the chinchilla rat.
Chinchillas | |
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Chinchilla lanigera at the Wrocław Zoo in Poland | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Chinchillidae |
Subfamily: | Chinchillinae |
Genus: | Chinchilla Bennett, 1829 |
Type species | |
Chinchilla lanigera[1] Bennett, 1829 | |
Species[2][3] | |
Range of C. lanigera and C. chinchilla.
C. chinchilla
C. lanigera |
The chinchilla has the densest fur of all mammals that live on land, with around 20,000 hairs per square centimeter and 50 hairs growing from each follicle.[7] In the water, the sea otter has a denser coat. The chinchilla is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur.[8] By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare after being hunted for their ultra-soft fur. Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised.[9] Domestic chinchillas descended from C. lanigera are sometimes kept as pets, and may be considered a type of pocket pet.