Order Rodentia - Family Chinchillidae Author Wilson, Don E. Author Reeder, DeeAnn text 2005 The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2 1550 1552 book chapter 0-8018-8221-4 10.5281/zenodo.7316535 Chinchilla Bennett 1829 Chinchilla Bennett 1829 , Gard. Menag. Zool. Soc., 1: 1 . Type Species: Chinchilla lanigera Bennett 1829 Synonyms: Eriomys Lichtenstein 1829 . Species and subspecies: 2 species with 2 subspecies: Species Chinchilla chinchilla Lichtenstein 1829 Subspecies Chinchilla chinchilla subsp. chinchilla Lichtenstein 1829 Subspecies Chinchilla chinchilla subsp. boliviana Brass 1911 Species Chinchilla lanigera Bennett 1829 Discussion: Osgood (1941) critically reviewed the early descriptions of chinchillas and suggested that Molina’s (1782) Mus laniger was a composite based on no known specimens. Bennett (1829) uses Chinchilla lanigera , derived from Molina’s Mus laniger , without stating that the animal described is the same as that described by Molina (1782) . Geographic variation in this taxon is poorly understood making it difficult to determine the number of valid species. Osgood (1943) recognized a single species, Cabrera (1961) and Woods (1993) recognized two species, and Bidlingmaier (1937) recognized three species.