Least ConcernSouthern Tamandua
Tamandua tetradactyla
One of the 2 viscachas on WAnimals
Mammals · Rodentia · Chinchillidae
Lagostomus maximus
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
It has one of the most extraordinary breeding strategies known in any mammal: the female releases hundreds of eggs each cycle, of which only a couple ever implant and develop fully.
Weight
3 kg – 9 kg
Size
39.5 cm – 66 cm
Life expectancy
8 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Colony
Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Sources consulted: Animal Diversity Web; Encyclopedia.com (Viscachas and Chinchillas); Wikipedia (Plains viscacha); Mammalian Species Lagostomus maximus (Oxford Academic); DNA Zoo (Earresistable puzzle)
Best time: All year round on the Argentine pampas, at dusk and at night; by day its 'vizcacheras', the large burrow systems it digs, are very conspicuous.
The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 10 of 11.
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Plains Viscacha — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Based on what we already know about plains viscacha.
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