The Asháninka arboreal chinchilla rat (Cuscomys ashaninka ) is a large species of chinchilla rats from the Andes of far northern Cusco in Peru. It was first scientifically described in 1999.
The first specimen of this species was discovered by Louise Emmons, a researcher of the Smithsonian Institution from Washington, D.C., who found it by chance while climbing in the Vilcabamba Mountains near Machu Picchu. Emmons named the genus after the city of Cusco, and she named the species for the Asháninka people who live in Peru.
