High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Degu is a small caviomorph rodent that is endemic to Chile. It is sometimes referred to as the Brush-Tailed Rat and is also called the Common Degu, to distinguish it from the other members of the genus Octodon. Other members are also called degus, but they are distinguished by additional names. The name "degu" on its own, however, indicates either the genus Octodon or, more usually, O. degus. Degus are closely related to the chinchilla and guinea pig, also placed in the parvorder Caviomorpha of the infraorder Hystricognathi.