10/5/2023 0 Comments Nutria itch![]() Newborn coypus nurse for seven to eight weeks, after which they leave their mothers. If timed properly, a female can become pregnant three times within a year. A female coypu can become pregnant again the day after she gives birth to her young. Baby coypus are precocial, born fully furred and with open eyes they can eat vegetation with their parents within hours of birth. They generally line nursery nests with grasses and soft reeds. Once a female is pregnant, gestation lasts 130 days, and she may give birth to as few as one or as many as 13 offspring. Male coypus reach sexual maturity as early as four months, and females as early as three months however, both can have a prolonged adolescence, up to the age of 9 months. Life Historyįile:Nutria population in Weilerswist, Germany low res.ogv Coypus can live up to six years in captivity, but individuals uncommonly live past three years old according to one study, 80% of coypus die within the first year, and less than 15% of a wild population is over three years old. However, beavers' tails are flat and paddle-like, as opposed to the round tails of coypus. It can also be mistaken for a small beaver, as beavers and coypus have very similar anatomies. The muskrat, however, is smaller and more tolerant of cold climates, and has a laterally flattened tail it uses to assist in swimming, whereas the tail of a coypu is round. The nipples of female coypu are high on her flanks, to allow their young to feed while the female is in the water.Ī coypu is often mistaken for a muskrat ( Ondatra zibethicus), another widely dispersed, semiaquatic rodent that occupies the same wetland habitats. Three distinguishing features are a white patch on the muzzle, webbed hind feet, and large, bright orange-yellow incisors. They have coarse, darkish brown outer fur with soft dense grey under fur, also called the nutria. It is possible for coypu to weigh up to 16 to 17 kg (35 to 37 lb), although adults usually average 4.5 to 7 kg (10 to 15 lb). The coypu somewhat resembles a very large rat, or a beaver with a small tail. Large orange teeth are clearly visible on this coypu. The cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters. Genus-level cladogram of the Myocastorini. In turn, these two taxa share evolutionary affinities with other Myocastorini genera: Proechimys and Hoplomys (armored rats) on the one hand, and Thrichomys on the other hand. PhylogenyĬomparison of DNA and protein sequences showed that the genus Myocastor is the sister group to the genus Callistomys (painted tree-rats). 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. ![]() ![]() bonariensis: northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil (RS, SC, PR, and SP) Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, independently of Kerr, named the species Myopotamus coypus, and it is occasionally referred to by this name.įour subspecies are generally recognized: The genus Myocastor was assigned in 1792 by Robert Kerr. The coypu was first described by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782 as Mus coypus, a member of the mouse genus. In Brazil, the animal is known as ratão-do-banhado (big swamp rat), nútria, or caxingui (the last from the Tupi language). In Swedish, the animal is known as sumpbäver (marsh/swamp beaver). ![]() In Italy, instead, the popular name is, as in North America and Asia, "nutria", but it is also called castorino ("little beaver"), by which its fur is known in Italy. In German, it is known as Nutria, Biberratte (beaver rat), or Sumpfbiber (swamp beaver). In Dutch, it is known as beverrat (beaver rat). In France, the coypu is known as a ragondin. To avoid this ambiguity, the name "coypu" or "coipo" (derived from the Mapudungun language) is used in South America and parts of Europe. The name "nutria" (from Spanish word nutria, meaning 'otter') is generally used in North America, Asia, and throughout countries of the former Soviet Union however, in most Spanish-speaking countries, the word "nutria" refers primarily to the otter. Two names are commonly used in English for Myocastor coypus. Literally, therefore, the name Myocastor means "mouse beaver". The genus name Myocastor derives from the two Ancient Greek words μῦς ( mûs), meaning "rat, mouse", and κάστωρ ( kástōr), meaning "beaver".
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