Lagidium wolffsohni
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Chinchillidae
Lagidium
Lagidium wolffsohni

description: 6.
Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha
Lagidium wolffsohni
French: Viscache de Wolffsohn / German: Sidliches Bergviscacha / Spanish: Vizcacha de Wolffsohn
Other common names: \ Wolffsohn's Viscacha
Taxonomy. Viscaccia wolffsohni Thomas, 1907,
“Sierra de los Baguales y de las Vizcachas,lat. 50° 50’ S., long. 72° 20° W,, on the boundary between Chili [= Chile] and Argentina.”
As treated here, this species includes L. boxi as a synonym. Monotypic.
Distribution. SW Argentina and adjacent Chile, known from the Sierra de los Baguales on both sides of the border between Argentina (Santa Cruz Province) and Chile (Magallanes Region) and nearby from Perito Moreno and Los Glaciares national parks in Argentina; it has been also reported in a single locality in Aysén Region, Chile.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 470-475 mm, tail 305-306 mm,ear 62-70 mm, hindfoot 107-113 mm; weight c.2 kg. In many ways, Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha is a larger version of the Common Mountain Viscacha (L. viscacia) but with long fur strongly suffused with orange, short ears, and very bushy tail. Its appearance looks even larger because of the very long and rich fur with woolly hair exceeding 35 mm. General color of head and body is brownish gray, but clay-colored woolly hair gives an overall darker tone to fur. Dark dorsal stripe is barely apparent. Lower cheeks,throat, chest, and belly color are richer and redder, almost tawny. Clear white spots are present on each axilla and each side of inguinal region. Ears are comparatively short, thickly and shortly haired; outside surfaces are black but inner surfaces are clothed with whitish hairs and with a marked line of creamy-tipped hairs running across their bases. Forelimbs are yellowish to tips of toes; hindlimbs are duller, more brownish clay colored. Hindfeet are large and heavy. Tail is finer than in any other viscacha, immensely bushy with hairs forming dorsal crest more than 150 mm. Color of upper crested side is mixed black and buff or ocher-buff; underside oftail is black,finely grizzled with glossy ocher-buft. Skull is comparatively large and heavy, with expanded nasals, short incisive foramina, and less swollen bullae than other species of Lagidium. Molecular genetic distance (mtDNA sequences of cytochrome-b gene) between Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha and the Common Mountain Viscacha is rather large: 7-9% (7-7-8-6%). Chromosome number is 64, with 126 chromosomal arms (in specimens referred to L. boxi).
Habitat. Rocky outcrops in mountainous areas up to elevations of ¢.4000 m.
Food and Feeding. The Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha is herbivorous, with a diet of tender buds, roots, seeds, and fruits; it also eats hard and coriaceous plants in the genus Festuca (Poaceae). It drinks very little water.
Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but a litter of one young has been reported for Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha.
Activity patterns. The Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha is diurnal and gregarious. It lives in caves and rocks 5-10 m apart. In the open, individuals sit erect while sunbathing in the morning. They often take dust baths and give deep whistles when threatened, alerting the colony and producing general running of individuals.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available for this species, but Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscachais reported to occur at elevations of 800-4500 m.It is found in rocky outcrops in mountain areas.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. R. A. Ojeda classified Wolffsohn’s Mountain Viscacha in “danger” category in 2000. It occurs in a few protected areas such as the Perito Moreno and Los Glaciares national parks in Argentina, and Lago Jeineimeni and Tamango national reserves in Chile; c.50% ofits known distribution is included in protected areas.
Bibliography. Barquez et al. (2006), Cabrera (1961), Cabrera & Yepes (1960), Canevari & Vaccaro (2007), Crespo (1963), Iriarte (2008), Ledesma et al. (2009), Mann (1978), Munoz-Pedreros & Gil (2009), Ojeda (2012), Osgood (1943), Parera (2002), Redford & Eisenberg (1992), Spotorno & Patton (2015), Spotorno et al. (2004), Thomas (1907).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Chinchillidae, pp. 462-481 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 481, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6585600