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Mountain Viscachas or Southern Viscachas

Lagidium viscacia

Photo by Josh Asel
Published on Project Noah
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-25.1089, -64.333

Field Notes

Description:

They are closely related to chinchillas, and look similar to rabbits, apart from their longer tails. There are five extant species of viscacha:
Plains Viscacha, Northern Viscacha, Mountain Viscacha, Wolffsohn's Viscacha, and Lagidium ahuacaense: a newly described species of mountain viscacha from the Ecuadorean Andes.

Notes:

Incredibly fast and fantastic climbers, I watched them accelerate to upwards of 30-35mph in the blink of an eye and also jump straight up a wall like spider-man. The Andean Cat Project has a picture with an Andean Mountain Cat with a Viscacha in its mouth, which amazes me to think a small cat can catch these fast and agile prey.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
Josh Asel
Thanks Mauna and Carmela! Well i hope you get a chance to see them soon Carmela, because i think the viscachas in Peru are the best looking subspecies of all the Viscachas :)
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Thanks for the great picture! I lived in Peru for many years, but I never had a chance to view this elusive creature.

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Mission WILD
Photographed
PublishedMay 25, 2013

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