FAMILY XIII.—CHINCHILLIDÆ (THE CHINCHILLAS).
FAMILY XIII.—CHINCHILLIDÆ (THE CHINCHILLAS).
In the Chinchillas, which form a small family peculiar to South America, the incisor teeth are short; the molars are rootless, divided by continuous folds of enamel into transverse plates, and the two series in each jaw converge towards the front; the zygomatic arch has no angular process on the lower margin; the clavicles are slender but perfect; the fore limbs are small, the hind limbs long; the tail of moderate length or long, and turned up at the end; and the fur is very fine and soft. They are Rodents of moderate size and more or less of Rabbit-like appearance, except that the tail is always elongated and bushy. Of the five known species, four are inhabitants of the mountain regions, and one lives in the plains of the region of La Plata.
The latter, the VISCACHA(Lagostomus trichodactylus), is a stout-built and almost Marmot-like creature, from eighteen inches to two feet long, exclusive of the tail, which measures from six to eight inches. It has four toes on the fore limbs, and three on the hind feet, the latter furnished with long, compressed, and pointed nails; the muffle is broad and covered with a velvet-like coat of brown hair; the fur, which is soft and moderately long, is of a mottled grey colour above, and white or yellowish-white beneath; on each cheek there is a dark band; a white band crosses the muzzle and runs back on each side almost as far as the eye; the tail is dusky-brown or black.
The Viscacha lives on the Pampas from Buenos Ayres to the borders of Patagonia, and where it occurs is generally to be found in great numbers, residing in extensive burrows which it digs for itself in the ground, generally in the neighbourhood of copses, and, if possible, near cultivated fields. Each burrow has a great number of passages leading down to several chambers, in which the Viscachas live in family parties to the number of eight or ten. The Burrowing Owl already mentioned as an associate of the Prairie Dogs of North America, is found about the settlements of the Viscachas, living in their burrows, but it is said that the intrusion of these birds immediately drives out the real owners of the dwelling, as the Owls will not observe those rules of cleanliness which are characteristic of their unwilling hosts. Of course the expelled family has to make itself a new residence, and in this way great stretches of country come to be so undermined that they are dangerous to ride over. According to Mr. Darwin, the most favourite resort of the Viscachas in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres are those parts of the plain which, during half the year, are covered with great thistles.
They are nocturnal in their habits, passing the day sleeping in the recesses of their burrows, and coming forth in the twilight one by one, until a large and lively company is to be seen playing about the neighbourhood of their holes. When all is quiet they go in search of their food, which consists of grasses and other herbage and roots, and sometimes of the bark of trees and shrubs. In cultivated fields they may do considerable damage. While engaged in feeding, one or other of the party is perpetually on the watch, and the moment anything occurs to cause alarm, the whole of them scamper away with their tails elevated, to take refuge in their holes. In their movements they are very like Rabbits, but less active.
The Viscacha has the very singular habit of dragging all sorts of hard objects to the mouth of its burrow, where bones, stones, thistle-stalks, hard lumps of earth, dry cow-dung, and other chance articles may be found collected into a heap, frequently, according to Mr. Darwin, amounting to as much as a wheelbarrow would contain. Mr. Darwin says that he was informed that “a gentleman riding on a dark night dropped his watch; he returned in the morning, and by searching in the neighbourhood of every Viscacha hole on the line of road, as he expected, soon found it.” The purpose of this accumulation of apparently useless articles by the Viscacha has never been ascertained. It has been compared to the habit of some of the Australian Bower-birds, which adorn their playing-places with bright and glittering objects.
VISCACHAS.⇒LARGER IMAGE
VISCACHAS.
⇒LARGER IMAGE
The Chinchillas of the Andes, or Alpine Chinchillas, are much lighter and more elegant animals than their cousins of the plains; in form they more resemble Squirrels or large Dormice. Their fur is excessively soft, perhaps the softest that clothes any animal, and in all the species it is of a greycolour, mottled or clouded with darker and lighter tints. The ears are of large size. They are confined to the Andes of Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, where they live among the bare rocks at a considerable elevation, seeking refuge in natural clefts and cavities, sleeping in their holes during the day, and coming forth at twilight in search of food. They are exceedingly lively and active in their movements, and very shy.
MOLAR TEETH TEETH OF THE CHINCHILLA.
MOLAR TEETH TEETH OF THE CHINCHILLA.
The COMMONCHINCHILLA(Chinchilla lanigera), the skins of which are well known as furs, is a squirrel-like animal, nine or ten inches long, with a tail more than half this length. It has large rounded ears; its fore feet have five, and its hind four, toes. Its fur on the upper part is grey, elegantly marbled with dusky or black, on the lower surface yellowish-white; the tail is black above, and dirty white at the sides and beneath. The incisors are of a bright orange colour in front. The SHORT-TAILEDCHINCHILLA(C. brevicaudata), a larger species, has the tail only three inches long. Its fur is of a general silvery-grey hue, tinged with black, especially along the back, and the tail has two dark bands on its upper surface. Both these animals inhabit Peru, and the former is also found in Bolivia and Chili. They are exceedingly abundant, notwithstanding the constant persecution to which they are subjected for the sake of their skins. They come out of their holes even in the daytime, but then always keep on the shady side of the rocks. Their activity is described as wonderful, and they will run with great rapidity up perpendicular walls of rock which seem to offer no hold for their feet. On the ground they are said to run very much after the fashion of our common Mice. The Chinchilla seems to breed nearly all the year round, and the female is said to produce from four to six young at a birth.
CHINCHILLA.
CHINCHILLA.
The other two species of Alpine Chinchillas are placed in a separate genus, characterised by a more hare-like form, longer ears, and the presence of only four toes on both fore and hind feet. CUVIER’SCHINCHILLA(Lagidium Cuvieri) is about eighteen or twenty inches long, of an ashy-grey colour with a yellowish tinge above, and pale yellow beneath; the tail, which, with the hair, is nearly as long as the body is clothed beneath with short black hairs, and above with much longer bushy hairs, gradually increasing in length towards the tip, where they are black; a black line passes down the middle of the tail, and its sides are dirty white. The PALE-FOOTEDCHINCHILLA(Lagidium pallipes), which is about the same size as the preceding, but has a shorter tail, is ashy grey, with a brownish tinge, becoming yellowish fawn colour beneath. The range of these animals seems to be the same as thatof the true Chinchilla, but the second of them passes northwards into the mountains of Ecuador. In their habits they agree with the Chinchillas.