by Lara Jackson

Created on: November 22, 2009

Picture, if you will, a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel: roughly the size of a rabbit and long-eared, with a furry, curled tail like a squirrel's. This is the viscacha, and they aren't rabbits or squirrels, but are closely related to chinchillas. Like chinchillas, they reside in South America, particularly in the Andes, and have dense, soft coats.

There are five species of viscacha. There are four Lagidium species, including two well-known Mountain viscachas, the Northern viscacha, L. peruanum, and the southern viscacha, L. viscacia. The Northern viscacha is found only in the Peruvian Andes at elevations between roughly 9,000-16,000 feet, between the timber and snow lines. They weigh around 2-3 lbs and have relatively long, heavily furred tails. Southern viscachas are found throughout the Andes region, and are a little bigger than their Northern relatives at a little over 3 lbs. They have somewhat shorter, smaller tails in relation to their body size.

Both these mountain viscachas live in rugged, mountainous areas with little vegetation. They have powerful high legs and are quite agile, adept at moving around steep terrain. Both species live in large colonies of up to 80 or more individuals, formed of smaller family groups who reside in family burrows. These burrows are little more than crevices in the rocks, as mountain viscachas are not good diggers. They feed and roam during the day, and are strictly herbivorous, eating grass, moss and lichen. They also spend a great deal of time basking in the sun and grooming both themselves and others in the colony. Females normally give birth to only one offspring a year, after a gestation period of 3-3 1/2 months.

The other two Lagidium species are poorly known. One, L. ahuacaense, was only officially described this year, 2009. It's suspected there may not be more than a few dozen of these animals in existence in the Ecuadorian Andes, and next to nothing is known about them. The fourth species, L. wolffsohni or the Wolffson's viscacha, found in Argentina and Chile, is also little-known and considered near-threatened.

All mountain viscachas are sometimes hunted for both their meat and fur. Of the four, the Northern viscacha is the only one considered unthreatened. The Southern viscacha's population is declining, and as for the other two, they're so seldom-seen that their numbers are probably quite low.

The last viscacha is the only Lagostomus species, the Plains viscacha, Lagostomus maximus. The Plains viscacha stands

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