| At the time, the nearest known relative of the plains viscacha rat was another viscacha rat, Octomys mimax, with fifty-six chromosomes. |
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| We named our find the golden viscacha rat, Pipanacoctomys aureus, its genus reflecting the isolated valley where it lives and its species name highlighting its golden color. |
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| Small deer, introduced hares, and viscacha, a burrowing rodent, are common. |
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| The guanaco, the viscacha, and the hare of the Pampas, are found in Patagonia. |
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| Although it will eat any vegetation, seeds and grasses are preferred, which makes the viscacha a pest to ranchers, especially because the burrows are hazardous to both humans and livestock. |
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| Chinchillas and their closest living relatives, the mountain viscachas, along with the more distantly related plains viscacha, constitute the family Chinchillidae of the suborder Hystricognatha within the order Rodentia. |
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| Unlike mountain viscachas, the plains viscacha is nocturnal. |
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