AnAge entry for Chinchilla lanigera
Classification (HAGRID: 02865)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
Order: Rodentia
Family: Chinchillidae
Genus: Chinchilla
- Species
- Chinchilla lanigera
- Common name
- Long-tailed chinchilla
- Synonyms
- Chinchilla chincilla, Chinchilla velligera
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 17.2 years (captivity)
- Source
- ref. 671
- Sample size
- Large
- Data quality
- Acceptable
- Observations
It has been reported that these animals have bred at 15 years of age and some have lived for more than 20 years in captivity [0434], which is possible but unconfirmed. One male specimen was kept as a pet for 18 years and acquired when about 4 years of age, making it 22 years-old, which is a plausible anecdote (website feedback). Record longevity in captivity is 17.2 years [0671].
A study comparing rodent species has found that maximum longevity is associated with smaller rates of protein turnover. Animals of this long-lived species may have evolved towards reducing the energetic cost of continuous protein turnover, which in turn would lessen the quantity and the damage caused by reactive oxygen species produced in this process [1334].
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 240 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 240 days
- Gestation
- 111 days
- Weaning
- Litter size
- 2 (viviparous)
- Litters per year
- 2
- Inter-litter interval
- Weight at birth
- 35 g
- Weight at weaning
- Adult weight
- 642.5 g
- Postnatal growth rate
- Maximum longevity residual
- 131%
Metabolism
- Typical body temperature
- 308ºK or 34.7ºC or 94.5ºF
- Basal metabolic rate
- 1.3100 W
- Body mass
- 436.7 g
- Metabolic rate per body mass
- 0.003000 W/g
References
- [1334] Swovick et al. (2018), Cross-species Comparison of Proteome Turnover Kinetics (PubMed)
- [1104] Jenkins (2010), Diseases of geriatric Guinea pigs and chinchillas (PubMed)
- [1032] McNab (2008), An analysis of the factors that influence the level and scaling of mammalian BMR (PubMed)
- [0776] Seluanov et al. (2007), Telomerase activity coevolves with body mass not lifespan (PubMed)
- [0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
- [0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology
- [0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
- [0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
- [0290] McFadden et al. (1997), Suprathreshold measures of auditory function in the aging chinchilla (PubMed)
- [0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
- [0291] Bohne et al. (1990), Morphological correlates of aging in the chinchilla cochlea (PubMed)
- [0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
- [0292] Bhattacharyya and Dayal (1985), Age-related cochlear hair cell loss in the chinchilla (PubMed)
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 825433
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy ID 34839
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google