chinchilla

On first glance, a chinchilla looks like a result of genetic research. They appear to be part mouse, part rabbit, and part squirrel. Touching a chinchilla's soft fur brings home the understanding of why the fur of these animals was prized by the ancient Chinchas. Their fur is some of the softest of all pets.
Chinchillas were originally found on the slopes of the Andes in South America. They were named after the Chincha tribe who hunted them for their exquisite fur and for their meat. Their fur eventually became the royal clothing of the ancient Incas, and commoners were forbidden to wear it. The name "chinchilla" was not given to the animals until the Spaniards came and discovered the animals that the Chinchas had so prized.
Chinchillas: The perfect pets for modern people kuro5hin.org

What is a chinchilla?
...Over the past couple of years or so debate has begun to emerge on whether or not members of the caviomorph sub order or rodentia are really rodents or not. Genetic testing has begun to indicate that they may indeed not be rodents at all. There are some people that think that they should be classified along with rabbits and hares. However due to differences between them and lagomorphs (the scientific name for rabbit order) many have proposes making a new order of animals, called caviomorphia for caviomorph animals such as chinchillas , guinea pigs , degus etc.
Chinchillas are nocturnal... [but] are very intelligent and can and will adapt their sleeping patterns to you. When you are away they sleep and when you get home they always seem to wake up at that time as they want to play.They love running around and playing and hopping just about anywhere.
The chinchilla pictures page contains an image of almost every kind of chinchilla.
Chinchillas make a variety of sounds depending on their moods. Go over to the sounds page to download a file with 3 different ones. The first one babies.wav is the sound babies make when happy. The second madbaby.wav is the sound they make when annoyed. The third one playful.wav is of a playful adult who wants attention.
http://www.geocities.com/~octodont/chininfo.html