---
title: "Viscacha"
description: "Lagostomus maximus — Zoogdieren. The plains viscacha or plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/plains-viscacha
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Viscacha

> Lagostomus maximus — Zoogdieren. The plains viscacha or plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae.

- Scientific name: *Lagostomus maximus*
- Category: `mammals` (Zoogdieren)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Weiden en velden)
- iNaturalist observations: 637
- Wikidata: [Q1162447](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1162447)
- iNaturalist taxon: [43824](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43824)

## Names

- en: Plains Viscacha
- de: Viscacha
- es: Vizcacha de las praderas
- fr: Viscache des plaines
- nl: Viscacha
- pl: Wiskaczan wielki

## Countries with the most observations

AR (544), PY (7)

## Summary

The plains viscacha or plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae. It is the only living species within the genus Lagostomus. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The plains viscacha is the largest species in its family. They construct elaborate burrows that house successive colonies for decades.

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

## Photo

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

Photo: Julia Ariadna · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/159208455

## Machine access

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