Muskrat Fossil range: Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Superfamily: Muroidea Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Arvicolinae Tribe: Ondatrini Gray, 1825 Genus: Ondatra Link, 1795 Species: O. zibethicus
Binomial name
Ondatra zibethicus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Muskrat range (native range in red, introduced range in green)

The muskrat or musquash (Ondatra zibethicus), the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats. It plays an important role in nature and is a resource of food and fur for humans, as well as being an introduced species in much of its present range. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near 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. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... 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 presence of sweat glands, including milk producing sweat glands, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing. ... Families see text Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. ... Subfamilies Arvicolinae Cricetinae Neotominae Sigmodontinae Tylomyinae Valid name: Muridae Illiger, 1815 [1] Cricetidae is a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. ... Genera see text Arvicolinae is a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. ... Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (February 2, 1767 - January 1, 1850) was a German naturalist and botanist. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links Verbreitungsgebiet_Bisamratten. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing. ... North American redirects here. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... Look up habitat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the physical universe. ... For other uses, see Fur (disambiguation). ... This article is about modern humans. ... IT is a new species. ...

The muskrat is the largest species in the arvicoline subfamily; which includes 142 other species of rodents, mostly voles and lemmings. Muskrats are called "rats" in a general sense because that they are medium-sized rodents with an adaptable lifestyle and an omnivorous diet. They are not, however, so-called "true rats", that is members of the genus Rattus. Genera see text Arvicolinae is a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. ... For other uses, see Vole (disambiguation). ... This article is about the rodent. ... Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... The eye is an adaptation. ... Pigs are omnivores. ... This is an article about wild rats; for pet rats, see Fancy rat Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ...

Etymology

The muskrat's name comes from the two scent glands which are found near its tail. They give off a strong "musky" odor which the muskrat uses to mark its territory (Caras 1967, Nowak 1983). The name musquash comes from the Cree language, while French speaking Canadians call the muskrat rat musqué (Musgrave 2007, MU 2007). Human submaxillary gland. ... For other uses, see Cree (disambiguation). ... Canadian French is an umbrella term for the dialects or varieties of French found in Canada [1] and areas of French Canadian settlement in the United States. ...

Description

An adult muskrat is about 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 inches) long, almost half of that tail, and weighs from 0.7 to 1.8 kg (1.5 to 4 lb). That is about four times the size of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Muskrats are much smaller than beavers (Castor canadensis), with whom they often share their habitat. Adult beavers weigh from 14 to 40 kg (30 to 88 lb). The nutria (Myocastor coypus) was introduced to North America from South America in the early twentieth century. It shares the muskrat's habitat but is larger, 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb) and its tail is round, not flattened. It cannot endure as cold a climate as can the muskrat and beaver, and so has spread only in the southern part of their ranges in North America (Caras 1967, Nowak 1983). A scorpion tail The tail is the section at the rear end of an animals body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. ... Binomial name (Berkenhout, 1769) Brown Rat range The brown rat, common rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat or wharf rat (Rattus norvegicus) is one of the best-known and common rats, and also one of the largest. ... For other uses, see Beaver (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782) The Coypu (Myocastor coypus) or Nutria is a large, crepuscular, semiaquatic rodent native to South America, but now also present in Europe, Asia, and North America. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ...

Muskrats are covered with short, thick fur which is medium to dark brown in color with the belly a bit lighter. The fur has two layers, which helps protect them from the cold water. They have long tails which are covered with scales rather than hair and are flattened vertically to aid them in swimming. When they walk on land the tail drags on the ground, which makes their tracks easy to recognize (Caras 1967, Nowak 1983). For other uses, see Fur (disambiguation). ...

A Muskrat skull

Muskrats spend much of their time in the water and are well suited for their semi-aquatic life, both in and out of water. Muskrats can swim under water for up to 15 minutes. Their bodies, like those of seals and whales, are less sensitive to the build up of carbon dioxide than those of most other mammals. They can close off their ears to keep the water out. Their hind feet are semi-webbed, although in swimming the tail is their main means of propulsion (Voelker 1986). Genera Monachus (Monk Seals) Mirounga (Elephant Seal) Lobodon (Crabeater Seals) Leptonychotes Hydrurga (Leopard Seals) Ommatophoca Erignathus (Bearded Seals) Phoca Halichoerus (Gray Seals) Cystophora (Hooded Seals) The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal suborder, Pinnipedia. ... This article is about the animal. ... Carbon dioxide (chemical formula: ) is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. ...

Distribution and habitat

Muskrats are found over most of Canada and the United States and a small part of northern Mexico. They always inhabit wetlands, areas in or near salt and fresh-water marshlands, rivers, lakes, or ponds. They are not found in the state of Florida where the round-tailed muskrat, or Florida water rat, (Neofiber alleni) takes their place (Caras 1967). A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... For other uses, see River (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Lake (disambiguation). ... Two people reflected in a fish pond A pond is typically a man made body of water smaller than a lake. ...

Muskrats continue to thrive in most of their native habitat and in areas where they have been introduced. While much wetland habitat has been eliminated due to human activity, new muskrat habitat has been created by the construction of canals or irrigation channels and the muskrat remains common and wide-spread. They are able to live alongside streams which contain the sulfurous water that drains away from coal mines. Fish and frogs perish in such streams, yet muskrats may thrive and occupy the wetlands. Muskrats also benefit from human persecution of some of their predators (Nowak 1983). For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ... Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... Coal Example chemical structure of coal Coal is a fossil fuel formed in ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ...

A muskrat feeding in British Columbia

Motto: Splendor sine occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 36 Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th Total 944...

Behavior

Muskrats normally live in family groups consisting of a male and female pair and their young. During the spring they often fight with other muskrats over territory and potential mates. Many are injured or killed in these fights. Muskrat families build nests to protect themselves and the young from cold and predators. Extensive burrow systems are dug in the ground adjacent to the water with an underwater entrance. In marshes, lodges are constructed from vegetation and mud. In snowy areas they keep the openings to their lodges open by plugging them with vegetation which they replace every day. Most muskrat lodges are swept away in spring floods and have to be replaced each year. Muskrats also build feeding platforms in wetlands. It is common to find muskrats living in beaver lodges, too. Muskrats help maintain open areas in marshes, which helps to provide habitat for aquatic birds (Nowak 1983, Attenborough 2002, MU 2007). Animal environments are classified as either aquatic (water), terrestrial (land), or amphibious (water and land). ...

A muskrat lodge

Muskrats are most active at night or near dawn and dusk. They feed on cattails and other aquatic vegetation. They do not store food for the winter, but sometimes eat the insides of their lodges or steal food that beavers have stored. Plant materials make up about 95 percent of their diets, but they also eat small animals such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles (Caras 1967, Nowak 1983). Species See text. ... Subclasses Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels) The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve molluscs inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide. ... Distribution of frogs (in black) Suborders Archaeobatrachia Mesobatrachia Neobatrachia - List of Anuran families The frogness babe is an amphibian in the order Anura (meaning tail-less from Greek an-, without + oura, tail), formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin saltare, to jump). ... Families Astacoidea   Astacidae   Cambaridae Parastacoidea   Parastacidae Crayfish, often referred to as crawfish or crawdad, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are closely related. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Turtle (disambiguation). ...

Muskrats provide an important food resource for many other animals including mink, foxes, coyotes, wolves, lynx, bears, eagles, snakes, alligators, and large owls and hawks. Otters, snapping turtles, and large fish such as pike prey on baby muskrats. Caribou and elk sometimes feed on the vegetation which makes up muskrat lodges during the winter when other food is scarce for them (MU 2007). For other uses, see Mink (disambiguation). ... This article is about the animal. ... For other uses, see Coyote (disambiguation). ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... For other uses, see Lynx (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bear (disambiguation). ... Genera Several, see text. ... For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Alligator (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Owl (disambiguation). ... Genera Accipiter Micronisus Melierax Urotriorchis Erythrotriorchis The term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses: Strictly, to mean any of the species in the bird sub-family Accipitrinae in the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. ... This article is about the carnivorous mammals. ... Genera See text Snapping turtles (or snappers) are large, New World freshwater turtles of the family Chelydridae. ... Pickerel redirects here. ... Binomial name Rangifer tarandus The reindeer, known as caribou in North America, is an Arctic-dwelling deer (Rangifer tarandus). ... For other uses, see Elk (disambiguation). ...

Muskrats, like most rodents, are prolific breeders. Females can have 2 to 3 litters a year of 6 to 8 young each. The babies are born small and hairless and weigh only about 22 grams (0.8 oz). In southern environments young muskrats mature in 6 months, while in colder northern environments it takes about a year. Muskrat populations appear to go through a regular pattern of rise and dramatic decline spread over a 6 to 10 year period. Some other rodents, including famously the muskrat's close relatives the lemmings, go through the same type of population changes (MU 2007).

History and use by man

Native Americans have long considered the muskrat to be a very important animal. In several Native American creation myths it is the muskrat who dives to the bottom of the primordial sea to bring up the mud from which the earth is created, after other animals had failed in the task (Musgrave 2007, MU 2007). This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-religious story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, earth, life, and the universe (cosmogony),[1] usually as a deliberate act of creation by a supreme being. ...

A muskrat swimming

Muskrats have sometimes been a food resource for humans. Muskrat meat is said to taste like rabbit or duck. In the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, there is a longstanding dispensation allowing Catholics to consume muskrat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent when the eating of meat, except for fish, is prohibited. Because the muskrat lives in water it is considered a fish in this case (Lukowski 2007). For other uses, see Rabbit (disambiguation). ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Aythyinae Merginae Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor... Dispensation is the act of distributing goods or services, especially those that are regulated, as in the practice of pharmacists. ... In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. ... For other uses, see Lent (disambiguation). ...

Muskrat fur is very warm and of good quality, and the trapping of muskrats for their fur became an important industry in the early Twentieth Century, especially in the state of Louisiana. At that time muskrats were introduced to Europe as a fur resource. They spread throughout northern Europe and Asia. Some European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands consider the muskrat to be a pest that must be exterminated. Therefore the animal is trapped and hunted to keep the population down. The muskrat is considered a pest because its burrowing causes damage to the dikes and levees that these low-lying countries depend on for protection from flooding. Muskrats also sometimes eat corn and other farm and garden crops (Nowak 1983). This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ... Dyke (normal International spelling) or Dike (normal American spelling) can mean several things: A dyke / dike is a long wall built to keep out the sea or enclose land. ... A levee, levée (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall, usually earthen and often parallels the course of a river. ... Binomial name L. Corn (Zea mays L. ssp. ...

References

• Attenborough, D. 2002. The Life of Mammals. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691113246
• Baillie (1996). Ondatra zibethicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
• Caras, R. 1967. North American Mammals. New York: Galahad Books. ISBN 088365072X
• Lukowski, K. 2007. "Muskrat love? It's a Lent thing for downriver area" The Official Web Site for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Accessed November 11, 2007.
• McMaster University (MU). 2007 The Muskrat Accessed November 11, 2007.
• Musgrave, P. 2007. "How the Muskrat Created the World" Muskrat.com Accessed November 11, 2007.
• Nowak, R. & Paradiso, J. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801825253
• Ondatra zibethicus (TSN 180318). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 23 March 2006.
• Voelker, W. 1986. The Natural History of Living Mammals. Medford, New Jersey: Plexus Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0937548081

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. ... The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikispecies has information related to:

Ondatra

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Ondatra zibethicus

• Everything Muskrat
• Hinterland Who's Who
• How the Muskrat Became a Fish
• How Muskrat Created the World - Native American Legends
• The New Student's Reference Work/Muskrat

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