Category: Mammals
The long-tailed or Chilean chinchilla are popular as pets and in the fur trade, but their wild counterparts are critically endangered due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction. They are native to the barren, arid, and rugged areas of the mountain chains connecting the coastal mountain ranges and the Andes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_chinchilla
http://eol.org/pages/326926/details
http://www.petsource.org/small-animal-species/5438-chinchilla.html
A 200 Million Year-old Iconoclast
If a defining trait of mammals is that they give live birth to their young, how do you explain monotremes? Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs like a reptile, rather than giving birth to live young. Living examples of these unusual animals can only be found in Australia and New Guinea today, though they used to be more widespread. A monotreme egg has less yolk for supplying nutrients than a reptile egg, and when a young echidna or platypus hatches, it is very tiny and less developed than its reptile counterpart. But monotreme babies are able to grow and thrive because their mothers stay with them, lactating to supply vital nutrients for their growth - just like other mammals!
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