Salix [creativecommon license] via Wikimedia CommonsChinchillas have served as animal models for investigating the pathology and treatment of both Chagas disease and cholera. But they are most commonly used in auditory research, in part because of the similarity between human and chinchilla hearing anatomy and sensitivity. The chinchilla has a sizeable middle ear with large auditory bullae and a conductive apparatus similar to that in humans. The chinchilla’s hearing range is also similar to that of humans, and chinchillas suffer from presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, like humans do.
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