Long-tailed chinchilla

The long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), also called the Chilean, coastal, common, or lesser chinchilla, is one of two species of rodent from the genus Chinchilla: the other species being C. chinchilla. Both species are endangered in the wild after historically being hunted for their soft hair coats. Domestic breeds of chinchilla are believed to descend from specimens of C. lanigera. Domestic chinchillas come in three types: la plata, costina, and raton.

Long-tailed chinchilla
Long-tailed chinchilla in a domestic setting
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Chinchillidae
Genus: Chinchilla
Species:
C. lanigera
Binomial name
Chinchilla lanigera
Bennett, 1829
  Long-tailed chinchilla range in 2016
Synonyms

Mus laniger
Chinchilla velligera
Cricetus chinchilla
Lommus lanigera
Cricetus lanigera

Historically, Chilean chinchillas were reported from Talca (35°30’S), Chile, north to Peru, and also eastward, from Chilean coastal hills, throughout low mountains. No fossils of the Chilean chinchilla are known to have been found, and by the mid-19th century, Chilean chinchillas were not found south of the Choapa River in central Chile. Wild populations of Chilean chinchillas, as of 1996, occurred in Aucó (31°38’S, 71°06’W), near Illapel, IV Región, Chile, in Reserva Nacional Las Chinchillas and in La Higuera, Chile, about 100 km (62 mi) north of Coquimbo (29°33’S, 71°04’W).

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