Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries
Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)
Southern viscacha fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Southern viscacha description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Rodentia |
| Family | Chinchillidae |
| Genus | Lagidium (1) |
The southern viscacha is one of three South American rodent species commonly referred to as mountain viscachas (3) (4). In common with its two congeners, the southern viscacha looks remarkably like a long-tailed rabbit (3). Soft dense fur covers its body, from the tips of its elongate ears to the end of its long, curled tail (2) (3). The forelimbs are relatively short, while the contrastingly long and muscular hind-limbs enable it run and jump with ease (3) (4). The colour of its fur varies seasonally and with age, but generally the upperparts are grey to brown, with tints of cream and black, while the under-parts are pale yellow or tan (2).
- Also known as
- southern mountain viscacha.
- Congeners
- Species belonging to the same genus.
- Gestation
- The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth.
- IUCN Red List (November, 2008)
http://www.iucnredlist.org/ - Eisenberg, J.F. (1989) Mammals of the Neotropics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
- Nowak, R.M. (1999) Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
- Macdonald, D. (2001) The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Tirado, C., Cortés, A. and Bozinovic, F. (2007) Metabolic rate, thermoregulation and water balance in Lagidium viscacia inhabiting the arid Andean plateau. Journal of Thermal Biology, 32: 220 - 226.
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
More »
Top
Related species
Southern viscacha biology
During the day, the southern viscacha emerges from the clefts and crevices it colonises, to forage for food, and bask on rocky perches in the sun (1) (3) (4). It runs and leaps amongst the rocks with incredible agility, and eats a wide variety of plants including grasses, mosses, and lichens (3) (4).
Like all mountain viscachas, the southern viscacha is a gregarious species that forms small to very large colonies, comprising one or more family groups (4) (5). The timing of the breeding season is not documented for this species, but the gestation period has been estimated at 120 to 140 days, with just a single young born at a time. The young is born fully haired with its eyes open, and is normally weaned after eight weeks, and reaches sexual maturity at around a year (3).
TopSouthern viscacha range
The southern viscacha has a patchy distribution comprising parts of western Bolivia, northern Chile, western Argentina and possibly extreme southern Peru (1) (3).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Southern viscacha habitat
Restricted to sparsely vegetated, rocky habitats, from 2,500 metres to 5,100 metres above sea level (1) (3).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Southern viscacha status
Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1).
Southern viscacha threats
Although the southern viscacha is locally hunted for its meat and fur, it is still a very common species, and is not thought to be declining at a rate to warrant significant concern (1).
TopSouthern viscacha conservation
There are currently no known conservation measures in place for the southern viscacha, but it does occur in several protected areas. Although hunting is not currently considered a major threat to this species, it needs to be monitored in case it starts to have a severe impact on the population (1).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact: arkive@wildscreen.org.ukTopGlossary
References
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Southern viscacha warming in sun
© Juan Carlos Muñoz / Biosphoto
Biosphoto
16 rue Velouterie
Avignon
84000
France
Tel: +33 (490) 162 042
Fax: +33 (663) 208 434
http://www.biosphoto.com/
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.