Coypu Fossil range: Late Pliocene - Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Hystricomorpha Infraorder: Hystricognathi Parvorder: Caviomorpha Family: Myocastoridae Ameghino, 1902 Genus: Myocastor Kerr, 1792 Species: M. coypus
Binomial name
Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782)

The coypu or nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, primarily by fur ranchers.^[2] Although it is still valued for its fur in some regions, its destructive feeding and burrowing behaviors make it an invasive pest throughout most of its range. The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 782 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1236 × 948 pixel, file size: 196 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn2. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... Families Ctenodactylidae †Tammquammyidae †Diatomyidae †Yuomyidae †Chapattimyidae †Tsaganomyidae Laonastidae †Baluchimyinae Hystricidae †Myophiomyidae †Diamantomyidae †Phiomyidae †Kenyamyidae Petromuridae Thryonomyidae Bathyergidae †Bathyergoididae Erethizontidae Dasyproctidae Agoutidae †Eocardiidae Dinomyidae Caviidae Hydrochaeridae Octodontidae Ctenomyidae Echimyidae Myocastoridae Capromyidae †Heptaxodontidae Chinchillidae †Neoepiblemidae Abrocomidae Skull of a capybara showing the enlarged infraorbital canal present in most members of the Hystricomorpha. ... Hystricognathi is a subordo of the Rodentia. ... Caviomorpha is an infraorder of hystricognath rodents. ... Florentino Ameghino (September 18, 1854 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentinian naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist. ... Robert Kerr (1755 - October 11, 1813) was a scientific writer and translator from Scotland. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Father Juan Ignacio Molina (June 24, 1740 - September 12, 1829) was a Chilean priest and naturalist. ... A deer and two fawns feeding on some foliage A herbivore is often defined as any organism that eats only plants[1]. By that definition, many fungi, some bacteria, many animals, about 1% of flowering plants and some protists can be considered herbivores. ... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

There are two commonly-used names in the English language for Myocastor coypus. The name nutria is generally used in North America and Asia; however, in Spanish-speaking countries, the word nutria refers to the otter. To avoid this ambiguity, the name coypu (derived from the Mapudungun word kóypu)^[3] is used in Latin America and Europe.^[4] The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the carnivorous mammal. ... Mapudungun test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator Mapudungun (mapu means earth and dungun means to speak) is a language isolate spoken in central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche (mapu is earth and che means people) people. ...

Taxonomy

The coypu was first described by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782 as Mus coypus, a member of the mouse genus.^[5] The genus Myocastor, assigned in 1792 by Robert Kerr,^[6] is derived from the Greek mys and kastor, or "mouse-beaver".^[7] Father Juan Ignacio Molina (June 24, 1740 - September 12, 1829) was a Chilean priest and naturalist. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ... Robert Kerr (1755 - October 11, 1813) was a scientific writer and translator from Scotland. ...

Four subspecies are generally recognized:^[5]

• M. c. bonariensis: northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil
• M. c. coypus: central Chile, Bolivia
• M. c. melanops: Chiloé Island
• M. c. santacruzae: Patagonia

M. c. bonariensis, the subspecies present in the northernmost (subtropical) part of the coypu's range, is believed to be the type of coypu most commonly introduced to other continents.^[4] Chiloé Island Location of Chiloé in Chile Chiloé Island (Spanish: Isla de Chiloé), also known as Isla Grande de Chiloé Big Island of Chiloé, is a South American island off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. ... Patagonia, as most commonly defined (in orange). ...

Appearance

The coypu somewhat resembles a very large rat in appearance. Adults are typically 5–9 kg (10-20 lb) in weight, and 40–60 cm (15-24 inches) in body length, with a 30–45 cm (12-18 inches) tail. They can also be identified by their bright orange-yellow incisor teeth (unlike rats, which have brownish yellow incisors). The nipples of female coypu are on her back. This allows their young to feed while the female is in the water. Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. ... Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... This article is about anatomical structure. ...

Coypu can also be mistaken for another widely dispersed semi-aquatic rodent that occupies the same wetland habitats, the muskrat. The muskrat, however, is smaller, more tolerant of cold climates, and has a dorso/ventrally flattened tail that it uses to assist in swimming, whereas the tail of a coypu is round. Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1766) Muskrat range (native range in red, introduced range in green) Muskrat Tucker hole, middle Patuxent River marsh, Maryland The Muskrat or Musquash (Ondatra zibethicus), the only species in genus Ondatra, is a large aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe. ...

Albino coypu

Israeli nutria. The large orange teeth are clearly visible.

Download high resolution version (1049x678, 114 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1049x678, 114 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2240x1488, 1509 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Coypu User talk:Peleg Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2240x1488, 1509 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Coypu User talk:Peleg Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner...

Commercial and environmental issues

Local extinction in their native range due to overharvest led to the development of coypu fur farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The first farms were in Argentina and then later in Europe, North America, and Asia. These farms have generally not been successful long term investments and farmed coypu often are released or escape as operations become unprofitable.

As demand for coypu fur declined, coypu have since become pests in many areas, destroying aquatic vegetation, irrigation systems, chewing through human made items, such as tires and wooden house panelling in Louisiana, eroding river banks, and displacing native animals. Coypu were introduced to Louisiana in the 1930s for fur, for example, and nutria damage in Louisiana became so severe that in 2005, a bounty program was in effect to aid in controlling the animal. In the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland, where they were introduced in the 1940s, coypu are believed to have destroyed 7,000 to 8,000 acres (32 km²) of marshland in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. In response, by 2003, a multi-million dollar eradication program was underway. ^[8] Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. ... Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... The Chesapeake Bay - Landsat photo The Chesapeake Bay where the Susquehanna River empties into it. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N  - Longitude 75° 03′ W to 79° 29... Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. ...

Coypu were also introduced to East Anglia, again for fur, in 1929; many escaped and damaged the drainage works, and a concerted programme by MAFF eradicated them by 1989. Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK government department, dealing with agriculture, fisheries and food safety. ...

Myocastor coypus in Avaré

Myocastor coypus in Avaré

Coypu meat is lean and low in cholesterol. While there have been many attempts to establish markets for coypu meat, all documented cases have generally been unsuccessful. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs have promoted coypu and coypu farms for their value as 'meat', 'fur', or 'aquatic weed control.' In recent years they have done so in countries such as the United States, China, Taiwan and Thailand. In every documented case the entrepreneurs sell coypu "breeding stock" at very high prices. Would-be coypu farmers find that the markets for their products disappear after the promoter has dropped out of the picture. ^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 547 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 821 pixel, file size: 901 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 547 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 821 pixel, file size: 901 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Avaré is a city of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, locates 270 km from the capital. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Avaré is a city of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, locates 270 km from the capital. ... Cholesterol is a sterol (a combination steroid and alcohol), a lipid found in the cell membranes of all body tissues, and is transported in the blood plasma of all animals. ...

In addition to direct environmental damage, coypu are the host for a nematode parasite (Strongyloides myopotami) that can infect the skin of humans. When this happens the condition is called "nutria itch." Classes Adenophorea    Subclass Enoplia    Subclass Chromadoria Secernentea    Subclass Rhabditia    Subclass Spiruria    Subclass Diplogasteria    Subclass Tylenchia The nematodes or roundworms (Phylum Nematoda from Greek (nema): thread + -ode like) are one of the most common phyla of animals, with over 20,000 different described species (over 15,000 are parasitic). ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ...

Distribution

The distribution of coypu tends to expand and contract with successive cold or mild winters. During cold winters, coypu often suffer frostbite on their tails leading to infection or death. Populations of coypu under these circumstances often contract and even become locally or regionally extinct (as in the Scandinavian countries during the 1980s). During mild winters, their ranges tend to expand northward. Frostbite (congelatio in medical terminology) is the medical condition whereby damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ... In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ...

References

• Sandro Bertolino, Aurelio Perrone, and Laura Gola "Effectiveness of coypu control in small Italian wetland areas" Wildlife Society Bulletin Volume 33, Issue 2 (June 2005) pp. 714–72.
• Carter, Jacoby and Billy P. Leonard: "A Review of the Literature on the Worldwide Distribution, Spread of, and Efforts to Eradicate the Coypu (Myocastor coypus)" Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 162-175.
• Carter, J., A.L. Foote, and L.A. Johnson-Randall. 1999. Modeling the effects of nutria (Myocastor coypus) on wetland loss. Wetlands 19(1):209-219
• Lauren E. Nolfo-Clements: Seasonal variations in habitat availability, habitat selection, and movement patterns of Myocastor coypus on a subtropical freshwater floating marsh. (Dissertation) Tulane University. New Orleans. 2006. ISBN 0-542-60916-9

1. ^ Pearson, O. (1996). Myocastor coypus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on September 5, 2006.
2. ^ LeBlanc, Dwight J. 1994. Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage - Nutria. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
3. ^ Coypu. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2006. Houghton Mifflin.
4. ^ ^{a b} Carter, Jacoby. Worldwide Distribution, Spread of, and Efforts to Eradicate the Nutria (Myocastor coypus) - South America. United States Geological Survey. January 29, 2007. Retrieved on September 4, 2007.
5. ^ ^{a b} C. A. Woods, L. Contreras, G. Willner-Chapman, H. P. Whidden. 1992. Mammalian Species: Myocastor coypus. American Society of Mammalogists, 398: 1-8.
6. ^ ITIS Report. ITIS Standard Report: Myocastor (English). Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
7. ^ Nutria Biology. Nutria.com. 2007. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
8. ^ "A Plague of Aliens" Feb/Mar 2003 edition of National Wildlife magazine, published by the National Wildlife Federation, article by Laura Tangley; accessed online December 8, 2006.

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is an operating unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ... The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) is an American dictionary of the English language published by Boston publisher Houghton-Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ... i suck for crack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. ... InsertSLUTTY WHORES≤ non-formatted text here{| class=toccolours border=1 cellpadding=4 style=float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 20em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right; |+ United States Geological Survey |- |style= align=center colspan=2| [[Image:USGS logo. ... The National Wildlife Federation is the largest American conservation organization, with over 5 million members and supporters in 47 state-affiliated organizations; its annual budget is over $125 million as of 2006. ...

External links

• Mammals of Texas - Nutria
• History, distribution and spread of coypu introductions worldwide; efforts to eradicate with links to other nutria sites
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' coypu website
• National Trappers - Nutria
• Nutria Recipes developed for a nutria control program
• The Effect of Nutria on Marsh Loss in the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland undated USGS report

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Myocastor coypus

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