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Animal Database
Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat
Mam no image large
Information
Range Machu Picchu, Peru.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Rodentia
Family Abrocomidae
Genus Cuscomys
Species Cuscomys oblativus
Conservation Status
EXSpecies
Extinct

The Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat (Cuscomys oblativus), is a species of large arboreal chinchilla rats, known from remains found in 1912, buried alongside people in ancient Inca tombs at Machu Picchu, Peru. Although considered extinct by the IUCN, photos of a rodent taken at Machu Picchu in late 2009 likely show this species.

Originally assigned to the genus Abrocoma, recent studies showed it to be more closely allied to Asháninka arboreal chinchilla rat (Cuscomys ashaninka), a species unknown to science until 1999.

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