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The nutria (/ ˈ n juː t r i ə /) or coypu (/ ˈ k ɔɪ p uː /) (Myocastor coypus) [1] [2] is a herbivorous, [3] semiaquatic rodent from South America.Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, [4] Myocastor has since been included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats.
Nutria, a native species to South America, are invasive to the Gulf of America coast (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), the Atlantic coast and the Pacific Northwest, according to the FWS.
Due to similar cranial morphology, the nutria was once considered a close relative of the Caribbean hutias and placed together with them in the family Capromyidae. [1] Later, it was more accepted to place it in its own family, the Myocastoridae. [2] Recent molecular studies place them in the family Echimyidae, in the tribe Myocastorini. [3] [4] [5]
The closest relatives of the genus Thrichomys are two clades consisting of pairs of Myocastorini genera: Callistomys (the painted tree-rat) and Myocastor (the coypu or nutria) in one clade, and Hoplomys (the armored rat) and Proechimys in the other.
Friday marks the end of national invasive species week, and officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used the occasion to urge Californians to hunt and eat nutria to help control their ...
Species in this list are grouped by order and then by family within each order. The common name for each species is followed by its binomial name. The following codes are used to designate some species: EN - Species is listed as endangered by the IUCN. NT - Species is listed as near threatened by the IUCN.
The tree produces spiky green fruits about the size of a golf ball, which turn brown and drop off the tree over an extended period beginning in fall and continuing over the winter.
Myocastorini members share long upper incisor roots (except Callistomys), and mid- to long-sized lower incisor roots.These five genera share either four (Callistomys, Thrichomys) or five (Hoplomys, Myocastor, Proechimys) lophids on the lower deciduous fourth premolar, three roots anchoring the upper molars, and well-connected lophs on cheek teeth.