CreatureData

Southern viscacha

Lagidium viscacia (Molina, 1782)

LCLeast Concernrodents

The southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia) is a species in the family Chinchillidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 1.22 kg to 1.54 kg and live up to 19.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)
Photo: Juan Rodolfo Lillo Lobos · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the southern viscacha

Weight
1.22 kg – 1.54 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
19.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
134 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1 – 1.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
6.91 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At dawn and dusk (crepuscular)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the southern viscacha live?

Not recorded

What is the southern viscacha?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia) is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. It is a colonial animal living in small groups in rocky mountain areas. It has long ears and hind legs and resembles a rabbit in appearance apart from its long, bushy tail; however, it is not a lagomorph.

From the Wikipedia article “Southern viscacha” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_viscacha&oldid=1317575143), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the southern viscacha endangered?

The southern viscacha is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the southern viscacha classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familyChinchillidae
  6. genusLagidium
  7. SpeciesLagidium viscacia (Molina, 1782)

Synonyms Lagidium boxi, Lagidium famatinae, Lagidium moreni, Lagidium peruanum, Lagidium peruanum arequipe, Lagidium peruanum inca, Lagidium peruanum pallipes, Lagidium peruanum peruanum, Lagidium peruanum punensis, Lagidium peruanum saturatum, Lagidium peruanum subroseum, Lagidium tontalis, Lagidium viscacia boxi, Lagidium viscacia cuscus, Lagidium viscacia cuvieri, Lagidium viscacia famatinae, Lagidium viscacia lockwoodi, Lagidium viscacia moreni, Lagidium viscacia perlutea, Lagidium viscacia sarae, Lagidium viscacia tontalis, Lagidium viscacia tucumana, Lagidium viscacia viscaccica, Lagidium viscacia viscacia, Lagidium viscacia vulcani, Lagidium vulcani, Lagotis cuvieri, Lagotis pallipes, Lepus viscacia, Viscaccia arequipe, Viscaccia cuscus, Viscaccia inca, Viscaccia perlutea, Viscaccia punensis, Viscaccia saturata, Viscaccia subroseum, Viscaccia tucumana

Other names and names in other languages (36)
  • Common mountain viscachaEnglish
  • Common Moutain viscachaEnglish
  • Mountain viscachaEnglish
  • Northern mountain viscachaEnglish
  • Northern viscachaEnglish
  • Southern mountain viscachaEnglish
  • Southern mountain viscachaEnglish
  • Southern Moutain viscachaEnglish
  • Southern Moutain viscachaEnglish
  • فسكاش الجبالArabic
  • činčila ušatáCzech
  • činčila horskáCzech
  • Sydlig viscachaDanish
  • CuvierhasenmausGerman
  • Eigentliches BergviscachaGerman
  • Peruanische HasenmausGerman
  • Ορεινό ΒισκάτσαGreek
  • ChinchillónSpanish
  • VizcachaSpanish
  • Vizcacha de montañaSpanish
  • Vizcacha del norteSpanish
  • Vizcacha del surSpanish
  • perunvuoriviskatsaFinnish
  • bolivianvuoriviskatsaFinnish
  • Viscache des montagnesFrench
  • déli macskanyúlHungarian
  • Viscaccia bolivianaItalian
  • チリヤマビスカーチャJapanese
  • FjellviscachaNorwegian Bokmål
  • Zuidelijke ViscachaDutch
  • Peruviaanse HaasmuisDutch
  • wiskacza górskaPolish
  • Viscacha-peruanaPortuguese
  • Южная вискачаRussian
  • Горная вискашаRussian
  • Güney Dağ ViskaçasıTurkish

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the southern viscacha

Other species in the same genus Lagidium.

CompareSouthern viscacha vs Wolffsohn's viscachaSouthern viscacha vs Ecuadorean viscacha

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the southern viscacha?

An adult southern viscacha weighs 1.22 kg – 1.54 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the southern viscacha endangered?

The southern viscacha is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the southern viscacha live?

The southern viscacha has a recorded lifespan of 19.5 years.

How long is the southern viscacha pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 134 days.

What kind of animal is the southern viscacha?

The southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia) belongs to the family Chinchillidae in the order Rodentia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-viscacha

MLA

“Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-viscacha.

BibTeX
@misc{southern_viscacha_2026,
  title = {Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-viscacha},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}