Peruchinchilla

Peruchinchilla
Temporal range: Burdigalian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Chinchillidae
Subfamily: Chinchillinae
Genus: †Peruchinchilla
Arnal et al., 2026
Species:
†P. prima
Binomial name
†Peruchinchilla prima
Arnal et al., 2026

Peruchinchilla is an extinct monotypic genus of chinchilline rodent that lived in South America during the Burdigalian stage of the Early Miocene subepoch.

Etymology

The generic name Peruchinchilla references the fossil organism's provenance from Peru and its taxonomic identity as a chinchilline. The generic name and specific epithet of the type species, Peruchinchilla prima, taken together mean "the most ancient chinchilla from Peru".

References

  1. ↑ Arnal, Michelle; Kay, Richard Frederick; Valdivia, Luis Angel; Salenbien, Wout; Morse, Paul E.; Borths, Matthew Robert; Williams, Blythe A.; Riddle, Catherine; Martínez, Jean‐Noël; Gonzales, Lauren A. (23 March 2026). "New Early Miocene hystricognath rodents (Caviomorpha) from the Madre de Dios River in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon". Papers in Palaeontology. 12 (2). doi:10.1002/spp2.70064. hdl:11336/288684. ISSN 2056-2799. Retrieved 19 March 2026 – via Wiley Online Library.