Canada Day is coming up soon and our Animal of the Month would like an extra long weekend, so we’re bidding the chinchilla a fond farewell for now. We hope that you enjoyed following us on Bluesky, “X” (a.k.a. Twitter) and Threads as we posted fun and fascinating facts about these super soft, smart and social creatures. But if you missed any of our posts along the way, you can always find a summary right here that you can reference any time. Did you know?:

• Did you know that there are two species of chinchillas? There is the short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla chinchilla) and the long-tailed or Chilean chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera).
• The long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) is the species that is most commonly kept in captivity and that is the species we will focus on this month.
• The chinchilla is named after the Chincha indigenous people who lived near the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.
• The Chincha are credited with discovering the existence of the chinchilla, which means “little Chincha” in Spanish.
• Chinchillas in the wild live in the Andes mountains of northern Chile at high elevations estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000 metres above sea level.
• But there has been an exciting new discovery that’s been reported since we last featured chinchillas as our Animal of the Month in June 2021. A population of long-tailed chinchillas has been found living along the coastline!
• Chinchilla researchers started investigating this population after a local man brought them a long-tailed chinchilla skull that he found while walking his dog along the coast near Antofagasta, Chile in 2020.
• The researchers not only found chinchilla footprints and droppings, but they captured chinchillas on cameras that they set up in the area.
• This chinchilla population was also found to be active during the day, which is highly unusual given that they are nocturnal and crepuscular creatures (active at night, dawn and dusk).
• Jaime Jiménez (University of North Texas), who has studied chinchillas for decades, says these chinchillas being active during the day could be an adaptation to the coastal environment or that there are fewer predators there.
• The researchers also found that the coastal chinchillas were smaller, had elongated ears that were more rabbit-like and had sleeker fur than their mountainous counterparts.
• With these differences in mind, researchers are not yet sure if these coastal chinchillas are a subspecies of Chinchilla lanigera or a new species entirely.
• Chinchillas in the wild live in arid rocky areas that have sparse vegetation, which includes cacti, thorny shrubs, succulents and forbs (herbaceous flowering plants).
• Unlike some other rodent species who live in burrows, chinchillas don’t dig burrows for shelter and protection from predators. Instead, they den in rock crevices and holes.
• Chinchillas are very social animals and will live in colonies (also known as herds) that can range in number from a few individuals to more than 100.
• Chinchillas are small rodents who typically measure between 23-38 cms (9-15 inches) from their heads to the base of their tails, which add another 7.5-15 cms (3-6 inches) in length.
• In relation to their body size, chinchillas have large heads with big (usually black) eyes and prominent ears.
• What do a Tyrannosaurus rex and a chinchilla have in common? They both have disproportionately small forelimbs compared to their larger hindlimbs.
• While chinchillas with dark silver or bluish-grey fur is what is most familiar to us, that is not what chinchillas look like in the wild. Their natural fur colour is a mottled yellow-grey.
• Selective breeding of captive chinchillas produced their dark silver/bluish-grey fur along with other colours such as black, white, beige and charcoal. Captive breeding has also resulted in pink or red eye colour in some chinchillas.
• Chinchillas are famous for their extremely dense coat of fur, which is an adaptation that allows them to live in frigid environments. Each follicle has 50-60 hairs in it. Comparatively, humans have around 1-3 hairs per follicle.
• My what big ears you have! It’s hard not to notice that chinchillas have enormous ears. And there are a couple of reasons for that.
• For animals famous for their fur, chinchillas don’t have much fur on their ears. That’s because they use their ears for thermoregulation, which is a function that maintains a steady internal body temperature.
• Chinchillas can’t sweat and are vulnerable to heat stroke. They have the ability to dissipate extra heat in their bodies out through the large surface area of their ears.
• Chinchillas also have sensitive hearing and can be easily startled by unfamiliar and unexpected loud noises.
• Chinchilla ear anatomy is similar to the anatomy of human ears and our hearing abilities are also similar. So chinchillas are frequently used for hearing research.
• Chinchillas are unusual among mammals who normally see the male of the species as larger and more aggressive. With chinchillas, it’s the females who are the dominant sex.
• Not only are female chinchillas physically larger, but they are also more aggressive than their male counterparts.
• Female chinchillas can get particularly aggressive with males and other females during estrus, which is the period when females are ready to mate. Estrus cycles vary and can last between 30-50 days.
• In the wild, chinchillas will primarily eat leaves and the seeds of plants, which makes them both folivorous and granivorous, respectively.
• While wild chinchillas eat mostly plant matter, there are reports that they may opportunistically eat the occasional insect or egg.
• When chinchillas eat, they will sit upright on their haunches and hold their food in their forefeet.
• Chinchillas look like they’re quiet animals and for the most part, they are. But did you know that they are capable of making 10 different sounds, including squeaks, grunts and barks?
• Chinchillas make different calls depending on what they’re doing at the time; such as when they are exploring, playing, avoiding predators and socializing.
• But because they are mostly active at dusk, dawn and during the night, the calls and sounds of captive chinchillas may be quite noticeable to their human family members who are trying to sleep.

This is the fourth time that we’ve featured chinchillas as our Animal of the Month. To see what we posted the first three times around, come check out our blog posts from June 2014, April 2017 and June 2021.