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Chinchilla rat

Family of rodents From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chinchilla rat
For alternative meanings, see Chinchilla (disambiguation).

Chinchilla rats or chinchillones are rodents of the family Abrocomidae. This family has few members compared to most rodent families, with only nine known living species. They resemble chinchillas 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 of South America. They are probably herbivorous, although this is not clear.[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type genus ...
Chinchilla rats
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Recent
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Abrocoma bennettii
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Parvorder: Caviomorpha
Family: Abrocomidae
Miller and Gidley, 1918
Type genus
Abrocoma
Genera

Abrocoma
Cuscomys
†Protabrocoma

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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.[2] Some molecular work[3] suggests that, despite their appearance, they may be more closely related to octodontoids such as degus, nutria, and tuco-tucos than they are to chinchillas and viscachas.

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

References

External links

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