The Asháninka arboreal chinchilla rat[2] (Cuscomys ashaninka) is a large species of chinchilla rats from the Andes of far northern Cusco in Peru.

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.

[4] Ashaninka arboreal chinchilla rats live in dwarf forest and are hunted by long-tailed weasels.

[2] When described, it was placed in the family Abrocomidae, but was considered different enough from existing species for the creation of the genus Cuscomys.

Since then, the Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat (Cuscomys oblativus), a species of chinchilla rats originally placed in the genus Abrocoma, has been shown to be a member of Cuscomys.