Good old nature never seizes to amaze me.
Take for example this cute rabbit:
Did I say rabbit?
Yeah, no.
This is actually a rodent known as the Viscacha or vizcacha
Viscacha or vizcacha (UK: /vɪˈskætʃə/, US: /vɪˈskɑːtʃə/) are rare rodents of two genera (Lagidium and Lagostomus) in the family Chinchillidae. source
As to why they look like rabbit, it's just one the countless examples of convergent evolution.
Sidenote, they belong to the family Chinchillidae, which also includes chinchillas.
Today there are five extant species of viscacha, classified into two genera: Lagidium (mountain viscachas) and Lagostomus (plains viscacha):
- Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia
- Northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum
- Wolffsohn's viscacha (Lagidium wolffsohni)
- And finally we have the newly discovered Lagidium ahuacaense
These four are commonly known as mountain viscachas as they occur high in the Andes Mountains.
And finally we have the plains viscacha (Lagostomus maximus), a resident of the Pampas of Argentina.
Viscachas are herbivores and consume a variety of plants that grow in their habitat like grasses, mosses and lichens.
Fortunately most species seem to be doing relatively fine, population wise and are listed as least concern. Having said that, there is some pressure on the Northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum) due to local hunting.
This is not the case however with the newly discovered lagidium ahuacaense which has only one known population in Ecuador and faces all kinds of threats thanks to human activity. It's status is not officially assessed but believe it's critically endangered.
Anyways, I think I talked enough for this silly critter. Google is your friend, plenty of good articles out there with lots of info. So, I will leave you with some videos instead :)
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZdaHQW97-G4?si=9et2BdN3Zad69rCO
Ok that was just a small taste, there's lots more videos on YouTube if you want to have a look!
Ok friends, this is it for today. See you soon with more strange animals _