Skip to main content

Nutria

Myocastor coypus
What is this weird, beaver/rat looking Rodent? Why, it is the Nutria! Sometimes also referred to as the Coypu.
These guys are native to South America, where they live near bodies of water and feed on the aquatic plants.

Nutria often live in colonies where they breed at very quick rates. A female may have 2 or 3 litters a year, with each litter producing as many as 13 offspring! The young Nutria leave their mother after only a month or two. They are a short lived and very quick growing species. Male Nutria can reach sexual maturity at four months of age, and they tend to live for only a few years.

Outside of their natives lands, Nutria are very, very destructive. See that shaggy, not especially appealing coat? Well under that is a very dense undercoat that has long been used in the fur industry. The desire for these pelts resulted in the growth of captive breeding fur farms... that the Nutria occasionally escaped from.

The species is now considered invasive in several US states, as well as in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. They are destructive because they breed quickly and feed on wetland plants, but care only for the stems. This means that they consume huge amounts of vegetation with much of it going to waste. The loss of vegetation leads to more erosion and soil displacement, which damages the wetlands. Nutria also carry parasites and displace native species. Hunting and chemical control methods are attempting to cut down the invasive populations, but only time will tell.

IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : South America
Size : Body Length up to 2ft (60cm), Weight up to 20lbs (9kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Rodentia
Family : Myocastoridae -- Genus : Myocastor -- Species : M. coypus

Comments

  1. Wow this is a great post. I just lived reading it. It contains so much information. I really enjoyed reading your article and i absolutely loved it….Thank you for posting it and keep up the good work. May God bless you.


    Aluminum Gantry Crane

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed Location :   Cent