The Bolivian Chinchilla Rat (Abrocoma boliviensis) is a species of chinchilla rat

Chinchilla rat

Chinchilla rats or chinchillones are members of the family Abrocomidae. This family has few members compared to most rodent families with only 9 known living species. They resemble Chinchillas in appearance, with a similar soft fur and silvery-grey color, but have a body-structure more like a...

 in the Abrocomidae family. It is found only in Manuel María Caballero Province

Manuel María Caballero Province

Manuel María Caballero Province is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department and is situated in the department's western parts...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is the rocky areas of cloud forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

s in Bolivia's interior.

Habitat and ecology

The Bolivian chinchilla rat lives in the cloud forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

s of Bolivia, and may specialize in the rocky areas within the cloud forest. It is a vegetarian, and lives in burrows. Young are born precocial

Precocial

In biology, the term precocial refers to species in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. The opposite developmental strategy is called "altricial," where the young are born or hatched helpless. Extremely precocial species may be called...

 after a relatively long gestation period

Gestation period

For mammals the gestation period is the time in which a fetus develops, beginning with fertilization and ending at birth. The duration of this period varies between species.-Duration:...

.

Threats

Major threats to the Bolivian chinchilla rat include the clearing of its cloud forest habitat for cattle pasture

Pasture

Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

 and habitat fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...

. It was historically trapped for its fur

Fur

Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...