Long-tailed chinchilla | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Chinchillidae |
Genus: | Chinchilla |
Species: | C. lanigera |
Binomial name | |
Chinchilla lanigera Bennett, 1829 |
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Past range of Chinchilla lanigera. | |
Synonyms | |
Mus laniger |
The long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), also called the Chilean, coastal, common chinchilla, or lesser chinchilla, is one of two species of rodents from the genus Chinchilla, the other species being Chinchilla chinchilla. Wild populations of C. lanigera occur in Aucó, near Illapel, IV Región, Chile (31°38’S, 71°06’W), in Reserva Nacional Las Chinchillas and in La Higuera, ca. 100 km (62 mi) north of Coquimbo (29°33’S, 71°04’W)[2] Chilean chinchillas were reported from Talca (35°30’S), Chile, reaching north to Peru[3] and eastward from Chilean coastal hills throughout low mountains. By the mid-19th century, Chilean chinchillas were not found south of the Choapa river.
No fossils are known.
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Chinchilla lanigera is smaller than Chinchilla brevicaudata, wild animals have body length up to 260 mm (10 in). It has more rounded ears 45 mm (1.8 in) in length and longer tail its tail is usually about a third the size of its body (up to 130 mm (5.1 in) compared to 100 mm (3.9 in) in Chinchilla brevicaudata). Number of caudal vertebrae is 23 in Chinchilla lanigera (20 in Chinchilla brevicaudata). Average males weight 369–493 g (13.0–17.4 oz) (mean: 412 g (14.5 oz)) and females weigh 379–450 g (13.4–16 oz) (mean: 422 g (14.9 oz)).[4] Domestic animals are larger than wild ones and more sexually dimorphic with the female weighing up to 800 g (28 oz) and males up to 600 g (21 oz).
The word lanigera translates into "bearing a woolen coat", yet chinchillas do not have a woolen coat, but instead one consisting of hair. Hair is 2–4 cm (0.79–1.6 in) long, with gray, white, and black bands; it is silky, extremely soft, and firmly adhered to skin.[3] Up to 75 hairs, 5–11 mm (0.20–0.43 in) in diameter, emerge together from a single hair follicle. Vibrissae (whiskers) are abundant, strong, long (100–130 mm (3.9–5.1 in)), and emerge from single follicles.[5] General color of upper parts is bluish or silvery gray, underparts are yellowish white. Tail has long, coarse, gray and black hairs on its dorsal surface that are 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in) long near the body, 50–60 mm (2.0–2.4 in) long near the tip, and form a bristly tuft that exceeds vertebrae by 50 mm (2.0 in)[3]
In the wild they breed between October and December, which are the summer months in the southern hemisphere.[4]
Three different types of C. lanigera are commonly recognized[6]
Climate in the chinchilla's habitat is rather harsh with summer temperatures climbing during the day to up to 30 °C in a shade and dropping to 7 °C at night (or below freezing point in winter).[4]
See Fur industry
The Chilean chinchilla is endangered, with the second highest conservation priority among Chilean mammals.[7]
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