Similar to other rodents such as beavers, hamsters, and guinea pigs, chinchillas have two continuously growing incisor teeth in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. They are nocturnal animals, being active mostly at dusk and at night. During daylight hours in the wild, they sleep in dark hiding places such as holes and crevices. As the sun goes down they begin to search for food.

What sets chinchillas apart from the rest of the rodents is their fur. It is so silky, dense, light, and soft (kind of makes you want to cuddle up to one ^^) that it is virtually unmatched by any other fur-bearing animal.

Both species were originally brought to the United States to be bred as fur producers. Since lanigera adapeted better to captivity and reproduced better, brevicaudata was enentually drooped from most fur-farming programs. Therefore, it is generally assumed that most of the animals in North America are lanigera descendants. Culls and other poor fur specimens became the first chinchillas offered as commercial pets. Today most pets on the market have been bred for just that purpose.

Brevicaudata and lanigera are now mostly extinct in their original range. Protected by their governments, chinchillas cannot legally be hunted or trapped, but the hungry natives still eat them ( and guinea pigs, too). The wild chinchilla population is on the U.S. Endangered Species list.