NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Argentine Plains Viscacha

Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest, 1817)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

The plains viscacha or plains vizcacha (Lagostomus maximus) is a species of viscacha, a rodent in the family Chinchillidae. It is the only living species within the genus Lagostomus. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The plains viscacha is the largest species in its family. They construct elaborate burrows that house successive colonies for decades.

Wikipedia contributors, Plains viscacha; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:01:38.685774+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest, 1817)
Name authority: (Desmarest, 1817)
Common name: Argentine Plains Viscacha
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Chinchillidae
Genus: Lagostomus
Extinction status: Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
subphylumVertebrata
infraphylumGnathostomata
parvphylumOsteichthyes
megaclassTetrapoda
classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
suborderHystricomorpha Brandt, 1855
infraorderHystricognathi Brandt, 1855
familyChinchillidae Bennett, 1833
subfamilyLagostominae Bennett, 1833
genusLagostomus Brookes, 1828
speciesLagostomus maximus (Desmarest, 1817)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Lagostomus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
Peruvian Plains ViscachaLagostomus crassus Thomas, 1910	ChinchillidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extinct

Browse 6 records assigned to Chinchillidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded name	Source status
Viscaccia americana Schinz, 1825 Schinz, 1825	synonym
Dipus maximus Desmarest, 1817 Desmarest, 1817	synonym
Lagostomus pamparum (Schinz, 1825) (Schinz, 1825)	synonym
Lagostomus trichodactylus Brookes, 1828 Brookes, 1828	synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

South America

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584708 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6NTX9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.