Kirchner's viscacha rat

Kirchner's viscacha rat or Kirchner's vizcacha rat (Tympanoctomys kirchnerorum) is a species of rodents in the family Octodontidae described in 2014.[2] It is one of two species in the genus Tympanoctomys.[2][3] That species is endemic to Chubut Province in the central western Argentina, where it has a fragmented range. Its natural habitat is desert scrubland, dunes and salt flats, where it eats halophyte plants. It is a solitary, nocturnal rodent that constructs large mounds with complex burrows.[2] The species was named in honor if both Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Néstor Kirchner, presidents of Argentina.

Kirchner's viscacha rat
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Octodontidae
Genus:	Tympanoctomys
Species:	T. kirchnerorum
Binomial name
Tympanoctomys kirchnerorum Teta, Pardiñas, Sauthier & Gallardo, 2014

References

1. Roach, N. (2016). "Tympanoctomys kirchnerorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T86051353A86051372. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T86051353A86051372.en.
2. Pablo Teta; Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas; Daniel E. Udrizar Sauthier i Milton H. Gallardo (2014), "A new species of the tetraploid vizcacha rat Tympanoctomys (Caviomorpha, Octodontidae) from central Patagonia, Argentina", Journal of Mammalogy, 95 (1): 60–71, doi:10.1644/13-MAMM-A-160
3. Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1573. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.