Characteristics Coypu

Also known as:

coypu, beaver rat, swamp beaver, tail rat or tail beaver

Scientific name:

Myocastor coypus

Systematics:

Order: Rodentia (Rodentia)

Family: barbed rat (Echimyidae)

Type: Nutria (Myocastor coypus)

Appearance:

Color: red-brown to brown-gray; rare colors: white, beige, light brown

Body length: up to approx. 65 cm

Body weight: 8 to 10 kg on average

Special features: red-orange incisors, round scale-covered, barely hairy tail, webbed between the first four (of five) toes of the hind limbs

Occurrence:

Original habitat: South America

Current habitat: South America, Eurasia and North America

In Germany: occurring in all federal states

Habitat:

on lakes, rivers, ponds, swamps, streams

Nutrition:

stems, leaves, grasses, roots of aquatic plants and root crops; but also snails, worms and freshwater mussels.