Article
Article
Chinchilla
Article By:
Curtin, Charles B. Department of Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.
Last reviewed:October 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.130300
The name given to two species of rodents that, together with four species of viscachas, make up the family Chinchillidae. These animals are native to several areas of South America and are widely bred on farms in North America and Europe for their fur, which is long and fine. The wild population is protected in Chile because the killing of wild stocks in the early 1900s almost led to extinction. See also: Rodentia
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