Southern Viscacha - Lagidium viscacia (Molina, 1782)

This large rodent has dense, soft, slightly woolly fur, elongated ears, and a long, heavily penicillate tail covered with long hairs on the dorsal surface and haired to the tip. The tail is held half curled or fully curled when the animal is at rest but carried fully extended when moving. There is a great deal of individual variation in pelage color, since the fur is molted throughout the year and there are pronounced age-related changes in color. But the basic dorsal color is agouti gray and brown with a range of cream to black and, and the venter is pale yellow to tan. The Southern Viscacha (Lagidium viscacia) is distribuited from southern Peru along the Andes of Bolivia to south-central Chile and Argentina. This gregarious species lives in colonies in rocky outcroppings up to 4,000 meters. They are diurnal and apparently do not need free water.