Geographic Range
The mountain viscacha is found in the extreme southern portion of Peru, Western and Central Bolivia, Northern and Central Chile, and in Western Argentina.
- Biogeographic Regions
- neotropical
Habitat
Viscachas inhabit rugged, rocky mountanous country with sparse vegetation.
- Terrestrial Biomes
- mountains
Physical Description
Like all members of this family, viscachas have thick, soft pelage, except on their tails where it is coarse. They have pale yellow or grey upper parts, and a black tail tip. Overall, viscachas look like rabbits. They have long, fur covered ears, edged with a fringe of white fur. All feet have four digits. The enamal of the incisors is not colored.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- bilateral symmetry
Reproduction
Mating occurs from October through December. After a gestation of 120-140 days, a female gives birth to a single, precocious young. The young are born fully furred, with their eyes open, and are able to eat solid food on their first day of life. Nursing continues for eight weeks. Females are remarkable for the large number of ova they ovulate (around 300) during each estrus period.
- Key Reproductive Features
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- Parental Investment
- precocial
Lifespan/Longevity
Behavior
These animals are diurnal and most active near sunrise and sunset. They spend the day on perches, grooming and sunning themselves. They are adept at moving over rocky surfaces. They do not hibernate.
Communication and Perception
Food Habits
Mountain viscachas are reputed to eat just about any plant they encounter. Their diet is principally composed of grasses, mosses and lichens.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Mountain viscachas are hunted for both meat and fur.
- Positive Impacts
- food
- body parts are source of valuable material
Conservation Status
Populations are declining due to hunting by local peoples.
Additional Links
Contributors
Nancy Shefferly (author), Animal Diversity Web.
- Neotropical
-
living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- mountains
-
This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.
- young precocial
-
young are relatively well-developed when born
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- food
-
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- folivore
-
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
References
Nowak, R.M. and J.L. Paradiso. 1983. Wlaker's Mammals of the World, Fourth edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, London.