---
title: "Mountain Viscacha"
description: "Lagidium viscacia — Mammals. The southern viscacha is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/mountain-viscacha
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Mountain Viscacha

> Lagidium viscacia — Mammals. The southern viscacha is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.

- Scientific name: *Lagidium viscacia*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `mountains` (Mountains)
- iNaturalist observations: 3575
- Wikidata: [Q1761602](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1761602)
- iNaturalist taxon: [852334](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/852334)

## Names

- en: Mountain Viscacha
- de: Eigentliches Bergviscacha
- es: Chinchillón
- fr: Viscache des montagnes
- nl: Cuvierhaasmuis
- pl: Wiskacza górska

## Countries with the most observations

PE (1112), BO (1034), CL (711), AR (430)

## Summary

The southern viscacha 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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_viscacha

## Photo

![Mountain Viscacha](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/mountain-viscacha/medium.jpg)

Photo: Diego Carús · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37355744

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/mountain-viscacha?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).