viscacha
/vɪˈskatʃə
/noun
A large South American burrowing rodent of the chinchilla family, sometimes hunted for its fur and flesh.
- Genera Lagidium and Lagostomus, family Chinchillidae: four species.
- At the time, the nearest known relative of the plains viscacha rat was another viscacha rat, Octomys mimax, with fifty-six chromosomes.
- After our work with the plains viscacha rat, I became convinced that the vast salt flats scattered throughout the deserts and arid thorn forests of northern Argentina could harbor other salt-pan specialists.
Origin
Early 17th century: via Spanish from Quechua (h)uiscacha.