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Chinchilla

File:Chinchilla_lanigera_(Wroclaw_zoo)-2.JPG · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ192930· pop 70· linked from 246 articles

Chinchilla

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Chinchilla is a genus consisting of two species (Chinchilla chinchilla and Chinchilla lanigera) of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, native to the Andes Mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "herds" at high elevations up to . 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. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae. They are also related to the chinchilla rat.

OverviewAI-generated

Chinchilla is a genus of mammals within the family Chinchillidae. It belongs to the order Rodentia, class Mammalia, and phylum Chordata in the kingdom Animalia. The scientific name is Chinchilla Bennett, 1829.

Records for this taxon are held by institutions including UAZ, MSB, CUMV, MVZ, and UNSM. These records are located in the United States and Sweden. The genus has 942 occurrence records, 108 records, and 10 media items. It is referenced by 246 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 26 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, PubMed, Gbif Occ, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

wild marigold

Chinchilla

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassMammalia
  4. OrderRodentia
  5. FamilyChinchillidae
Observations7,222
Observations recorded942

毛絲鼠屬（學名：Chinchilla），別名絨鼠、栗鼠，又稱龍貓，毛絲鼠體型小而肥胖，尾端的毛長而蓬鬆。全身被滿均勻的絨毛，其狀如絲一樣緻密柔軟，故名毛絲鼠。其为原产于南美洲安第斯山脉地区的兔子大小的花栗鼠类动物，体长约35厘米，毛皮柔软，浅灰色，尾长，有丛毛。牠們一個毛孔有多達60～80根毛，使寄生蟲不易生存，並以皮毛柔軟漂亮而聞名於世，現因遭人類濫殺而瀕臨滅絕。本屬現存只有兩個品種，兩者皆為瀕危物種。

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
108
With media
10
Family
Chinchillidae
Collections
UAZ, MSB, CUMV, MVZ, UNSM, UCOCV
Recorded in
United States, Sweden
iDigBio →

Research

4,285 papers

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Subclass of
Rodentia
Parent taxon
Chinchillinae
Image
Chinchilla lanigera (Wroclaw zoo)-2.JPG
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Chinchilla
taxon rank
genus
taxon name
Chinchilla
topic's main category
Category:Chinchilla
described by source
Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
different from
chinchilla rats
CITES Appendix
Appendix I of CITES
taxonomic type
Chinchilla lanigera
time period
Holocene
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~11 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections
Contents
  • Species
  • Distribution and habitat
  • Conservation
  • Relationship with humans
  • Fur industry
  • As pets
  • In scientific research
  • Veterinary medicine
  • Fractures
  • Convulsions
  • Infectious diseases
  • Temperament
  • Pharmaceutical treatment
  • References
  • Sources

Chinchilla is a genus consisting of two species (Chinchilla chinchilla and Chinchilla lanigera) of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, native to the Andes Mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "herds" at high elevations up to . 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. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae. They are also related to the chinchilla rat.

Chinchillas have the densest fur of all extant terrestrial mammals, with around 20,000 hairs per square centimeter and 50 hairs growing from each follicle. The chinchilla is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur and ate their meat. By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare after being hunted for their notably soft fur. Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised. Domestic chinchillas descended from C. lanigera are sometimes kept as pets, and may be considered a type of pocket pet.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chinchilla” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (20)

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