Wild rabbits were crossed with Beverens and the Himalayans to create this breed. The breed's distinct coat color made it popular, particularly in the United States. Its calm demeanor makes it an excellent companion breed. Breeders eventually began to produce larger Chinchilla rabbits, resulting in the creation of the American and Giant Chinchillas.

Chinchilla rabbits are a group of three rabbit breeds that have been bred for a coat that resembles that of chincillas.Despite their name, they are not related to and cannot interbreed with chinchillas, which are a species of rodent. Rabbits are lagomorphs.

Despite the evolutionary relationship between lagomorphs and rodents, the two orders have some major differences: primarily, lagomorphs have four incisors in the upper jaw, whereas rodents  only have two. Also, lagomorphs are almost strictly herbivorous, unlike rodents, many of which will eat both meat and vegetable matter. They are similar to rodents in that their incisor teeth grow continuously throughout their lives, thus necessitating constant chewing on fibrous food to prevent the teeth from growing too long.

Lagomorphs have no paw pads, instead the bottoms of their paws are entirely covered with fur.

Similarly to the rodents, bats, and some mammalian insectivores, they have a smooth-surfaced cerebrum.

Lagomorphs are unusual among terrestrial mammals in that the females are larger than males. This is extremely rare among terrestrial mammals.

 A mutation diluted the yellow pigment in the hairs to almost white, changing in this way the color of the fur of the wild rabbit (agouti) into chinchilla.