CHINCHILLA, a small grey hopping rodent (Chinchilla lanigera), the size of a squirrel, inhabiting the eastern slopes of the Andes in Chile and Bolivia, at altitudes between 8,000 and I 2,000 ft. It typifies not only the genus Chinchilla, but the family Chinchillidae (see RODENTIA). The chinchilla is about io in. in length, exclusive of the long tail, and in the form of its head some what resembles a rabbit. It is covered with a dense soft fur of a delicate French grey, darkly mottled on the upper surface and dusky white beneath, the ears being long, broad and thinly covered with hair. Chinchillas live in burrows. They associate in communities, forming their burrows among loose rocks, and coming out to feed in the early morning and towards sunset. They feed on roots and grasses, and when eating they sit on their haunches, holding their food in their fore-paws. The fur (q.v.) of this rodent was prized by the ancient Peruvians, and at the present day the skins are exported in numbers to the markets, where they are made into muffs, tip pets and trimmings. That chin chillas have not under such circumstances become extinct is owing to their fecundity, the female producing five or six young twice a year. The Peruvian chinchilla (C. brevi caudata) is larger, with rela tively shorter ears and tail; while still larger species constitute the genus Lagidium, ranging from the Andes to Patagonia, and distinguished by having four in place of five front-toes, more pointed ears, and a somewhat different skull. (See also VISCACHA.)