Chinchillidae

The family Chinchillidae is in the order Rodentia and consists of the chinchillas, the viscachas, and their fossil relatives. This family is restricted to southern and western South America, mostly living in mountainous regions of the Andes, except one species living on plains. They are medium to large-sized rodents, weighing from 800 g (28 oz) to 8 kg (18 lb), with strong hind legs and large ears and a bushy tail. All species have thick, soft fur, which is considered valuable in some cultures.

Chinchillidae

Uploaded by Salix with consent of the author : Jaime E. Jimenez, Laboratorio de Ecología, Universidad de Los Lagos. C… · Attribution · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
chinchilidPBDB
Sits inside
ChinchilloideaPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 210 occurrencesOligocene — about 12 of 210 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 127 of 210 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 32 of 210 occurrencesPleistocene — about 27 of 210 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 2 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 2 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 2 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 5 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 10 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 23 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 9 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 12 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 5 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 3 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 16 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 19 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 18 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 14 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 35 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

210 occurrences of Chinchillidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

210 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

57 formations

Cerro Azul — 38.74°S, 62.21°WCerro Azul — 38.70°S, 62.26°WCerro Azul — 35.69°S, 64.67°WCerro Azul — 36.25°S, 65.51°WCerro Azul — 37.37°S, 65.47°WCerro Azul — 35.92°S, 64.87°WCerro Azul — 37.14°S, 65.77°WCerro Azul — 37.73°S, 63.53°WCerro Azul — 36.68°S, 64.18°WCerro Azul — 36.70°S, 64.28°WCerro Azul — 36.22°S, 65.06°WCerro Azul — 37.22°S, 63.59°WCerro Azul — 37.02°S, 64.51°WCerro Azul — 36.84°S, 65.28°WCerro Azul — 37.28°S, 64.15°WSanta Cruz — 51.34°S, 69.02°WSanta Cruz — 50.05°S, 70.44°WSanta Cruz — 50.35°S, 68.97°WSanta Cruz — 50.28°S, 70.22°WSanta Cruz — 50.28°S, 70.28°WSanta Cruz — 50.21°S, 69.72°WSanta Cruz — 50.60°S, 69.08°WSanta Cruz — 51.57°S, 68.95°WSanta Cruz — 48.52°S, 69.72°WCollón Cura — 41.00°S, 70.58°WCollón Cura — 40.39°S, 70.21°WCollón Cura — 40.09°S, 70.84°WCollón Cura — 41.17°S, 70.67°WCollón Cura — 42.65°S, 69.70°WSarmiento — 45.23°S, 67.49°WSarmiento — 43.28°S, 65.48°WSarmiento — 45.67°S, 68.71°WSarmiento — 43.30°S, 65.42°WSarmiento — 44.34°S, 65.25°WIrene — 38.63°S, 60.61°WIrene — 38.83°S, 60.54°WIrene — 38.74°S, 60.57°WIrene — 38.53°S, 60.60°WGalera — 46.90°S, 72.30°WMonte Hermoso — 38.99°S, 61.67°WPinturas — 47.01°S, 70.63°WPinturas — 48.90°S, 70.17°WCura-Mallín — 37.48°S, 71.23°WCura-Mallín — 37.50°S, 71.27°WCura-Mallín — 37.65°S, 71.23°WChiquimil — 26.80°S, 66.07°WChiquimil — 27.22°S, 66.93°WChiquimil — 27.11°S, 66.83°WCerro Bandera — 39.27°S, 69.28°WCerro Bandera — 38.88°S, 69.47°WCerro Bandera — 38.92°S, 69.58°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WCerro Boleadoras — 47.00°S, 71.62°WSalicas — 28.33°S, 66.95°WSalicas — 28.33°S, 66.99°WNazareno — 21.67°S, 65.58°WNuapua — 20.75°S, 63.07°WNuapua — 20.87°S, 63.07°WLujan — 38.57°S, 58.70°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WArroyo Chasicó — 38.62°S, 62.98°WEpecuén — 37.22°S, 63.55°WLuján — 37.00°S, 60.38°WLuján — 35.83°S, 58.02°WPuerto Madryn — 42.78°S, 63.68°WSalla — 17.18°S, 67.63°WFray Bentos — 29.33°S, 58.68°WFray Bentos — 29.68°S, 58.73°WTezanos Pinto — 31.41°S, 62.14°WTezanos Pinto — 32.07°S, 60.65°W

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The named rock units Chinchillidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 33 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 43 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Chinchillidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Chinchillidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,275 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 130 sites for Chinchillidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

102 references

Each of the 210 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 90 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Chinchillidae

Credit
Uploaded by Salix with consent of the author : Jaime E. Jimenez, Laboratorio de Ecología, Universidad de Los Lagos. C…
Licence
Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

No 3D scan of Chinchillidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itChinchilloidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bennett 1833