Myocastor coypus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Mammal. The coypu is a large semi-aquatic rodent which originated from South America. However, due to escapes from fur farms there are now large feral populations in North America, Europe and Asia. Their burrows penetrate and damage river banks, dikes and irrigation facilities. Feeding on wetland plants could devastate large areas of the reed swamp .

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

It prefers habitats near the water, animals are rarely observed over 100 m away from river . Severe winter could reduce reproductive success and adult survival.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,911 meters (0 to 9,551 feet).[1]

Ecology: This species prefers habitats near water, and is rarely observed more than 100 m away from rivers (Bertolino 2005).[2].

List of Habitats:

• 5 Wetlands (inland)
• 5.1 Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls )
• 5.4 Wetlands (inland) - Bogs , Marshes, Swamps , Fens , Peatlands
• 15 Artificial/Aquatic and Marine
• 15.1 Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha)
• 15.2 Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below 8ha)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Myocaster Coypus

Similar Species

Members of the genus Myocastor

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 2 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. coypus (Ratao Do Banhado) · M. coypus coypus (Ratao Do Banhado)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A Directory of Neotropical Wetlands. IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 10, p. 101, p. 102, p. 11, p. 123, p. 15, p. 17, p. 18, p. 19, p. 20, p. 205, p. 22, p. 23, p. 266, p. 268, p. 27, p. 271, p. 272, p. 273, p. 274, p. 275, p. 276, p. 31.
• A catalogue of the collection of mammals in the Field Columbian Museum. 1907 8 Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1907. url p. 356, p. 629.
• A directory of crocodilian farming operations Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1985 url p. 163.
• American Museum novitates. New YorkAmerican Museum of Natural History url p. 3.
• An atlas of the chromosome numbers in animals. Ames, Iowa State College Press[1951] url p. 267.
• Anatomischer Anzeiger. Jena: G. Fischer, 1886- url p. 472.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url , , p. 102, p. 105, p. 105, p. 106, p. 112, p. 114, p. 116, p. 133, p. 144, p. 148, p. 161, p. 307, p. 55, p. 559, p. 619, p. 70, p. 71, p. 72, p. 72, p. 74, p. 77, p. 78, p. 84, p. 86, p. 89, p. 92, p. 98.
• Biosphere Reserves, Compilation 4, October 1986: programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 118, p. 173, p. 589.
• Bulletin / Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: G.P.O., 1901-1971. url p. 170, p. 271, p. 75.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 164, p. 35.
• Current bibliography for aquatic sciences and fisheries. London, Taylor & Francis ltd. url p. 2, p. 203, p. 425, p. 511, p. 512, p. 55, p. 694, p. 724, p. 774, p. 78, p. 896, p. 921.
• Current bibliography for fisheries science. Rome, Biology Branch, Fisheries Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. url p. 35.
• Descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the physiological series of comparative anatomy contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. London, Taylor [and] Francis (pr.)1900-1902. url p. 197.
• Directory of Wetlands of International Importance. IUCN url p. 665, p. 739, p. 740.
• Distribution and origin of life in America, by Robert Francis Scharff New York, Macmillan, 1912 url p. 283, p. 396, p. 487.
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- url p. 257, p. 79.
• Extinct and vanishing mammals of the western hemisphere, with the marine species of all the oceans, by Grover M. Allen. .. [Cambridge? Mass.]American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, 1942. url p. 383.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. url p. 142, p. 145, p. 206, p. 228, p. 243, p. 283, p. 286, p. 305, p. 310, p. 315, p. 35, p. 37, p. 377, p. 394, p. 4, p. 441.
• General embryological information service. Utrecht, Hubrecht Laboratory. url p. 151.
• General function of the gall bladder from the evolutionary standpoint, by Frank W. Gorham and Andrew Conway Ivy. 22 1938 Chicago, 1938. url p. 201.
• Global Biodiversity: status of the Earth's living resources WCMC url p. 391.
• IUCN Directory of Neotropical Protected Areas IUCN url p. 111, p. 16, p. 281, p. 369, p. 370, p. 371.
• Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals. By T. S. Palmer. .. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1904. url p. 438.
• Jenaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft. Jena, Gustav Fischer [etc.]. url p. 466.
• Mammals of the Soviet Union / V.G. Heptner, A.A. Nasimovich, and A.G. Bannikov; scientific editor, Robert S. Hoffmann. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation, 1988- url p. 1529.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. 1965 Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1946-1996. url p. 12, p. 12, p. 81.
• Monograph of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kan.: The Museum. url p. 314, p. 409, p. 94.
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 117.
• Observations on the biology of rodents in Uruguay / [Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum], 1969. url p. 3.
• Occasional papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. 1980 Lawrence, Kan.: The University, 1971-1994. url fig. 6, page 10, p. 11, p. 13.
• Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems / [edited by], Edward T. LaRoe. .. [et al.]. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1995. url p. 510.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 14, p. 287, p. 297, p. 57, p. 58.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 229, p. 254, p. 81.
• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url , , p. 192, p. 307, p. 378.
• Protected Landscapes: experience around the world. Prepared for the International Symposium on Protected Landscapes, Grange-over-Sands, England 5-10 October 1987 IUCN url p. 126.
• Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and financial report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents for the year ending June 30. .. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1933-1965. url p. 101, p. 102, p. 105, p. 106, p. 112, p. 114, p. 116, p. 133, p. 144, p. 148, p. 161, p. 78, p. 96, p. 98.
• Report on the progress and condition of the U.S. National Museum for the year ending June 30. .. / Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum. Washington: G.P.O., 1907-1951. url p. 100, p. 125, p. 189, p. 89.
• Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896-1899. J. B. Hatcher in charge. Edited by William B. Scott. Princeton, The University, 1901-32 [v. 1, 1903] url p. 339, p. 393, p. x, p. xi.
• Science from an easy chair, by Sir Ray Lankester. .. With fifty-five illustrations. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1913. url p. 152.
• Science from an easy chair. Second series. LondonMethuen[1915] url p. 152.
• Science from an easy chair; a second series, London, Methuen[1920] url .
• Smithsonian scientific series. New York: Smithsonian Institution Series, Inc., [1929]-32. url p. 348.
• Special scientific report--wildlife / U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service, 1949- url p. 10, p. 692.
• Studies in neotropical mammalogy: essays in honor of Philip Hershkovitz / edited by Bruce D. Patterson, Robert M. Timm. 39 1987 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1987. url table 13 , table 3 , table 9 , table 12 , p. 29, p. 69, p. 83, p. 85.
• System of ophthalmology. St. Louis, Mosby, 1958- url p. 817.
• The American natural history: a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America / William T. Hornaday. .. illustrated by 225 original drawings. .. 151 photographs. .. and with numerous charts and maps. New York: C. Scribner's sons, 1914. url p. 341.
• The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology being a continuation of the Annals combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History. London, Taylor and Francis, Ltd. url p. 100, p. 100, p. 245.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. 69 1955 Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url title page, no. 1 , title page, index , p. 172, p. 180, p. 205, p. 22, p. 25.
• The IUCN Mammal Red Data Book. Part 1: threatened mammalian taxa of the Americas and the Australasian zoogeographic region (excluding Cetacea) IUCN url p. 357, p. 357.
• The Marine Mammal Commission compendium of selected treaties, international agreements, and other relevant documents on marine resources, wildlife, and the environment / compiled by Richard L. Wallace. Washington, D.C.: The Commission; 1994 url p. 496, p. 498, p. 502.
• The coccidian parasites (Protozoa, Sporozoa) of rodents Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1965. url p. 161, p. 162, p. 165, p. 166, p. 188, p. 314, p. 336, p. 364, p. 55.
• The ecology of delta marshes of coastal Louisiana: a community profile / by James G. Gosselink. Washington, DC: National Coastal Ecosystems Team, Division of Biological Services, Research Development, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior: 1984. url p. 65.
• The families and genera of living rodents / by J.R. Ellerman; with a list of named forms (1758-1936) by R.W. Hayman and G.W.C.Holt. London: British Museum, 1940. url p. 142, p. 143, p. 144.
• The mammals of Chile, by Wifred H. Osgood. 30 1943 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1943 url p. 132, p. 15, p. 242, p. 266.
• The mammals of the Caucasus; a history of the evolution of the fauna. (Mlekopitayushchie Kavkaza; istoriya formirovaniya fauny). [By] N. K. Vereskchagin. Chief editor: E. N. Pavlovskii. Editor of this volume: A. A. Strelkov. Translated from Russian [by A. Lerman and B. Rabinovich. Edited by M. Loeb] Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations [available from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Va.], 1967. url p. 528, p. 553, p. 642, p. 643.
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• Tulane studies in zoology. 9 1962 New Orleans: Tulane University, 1953-1968. url p. 307, figs. 10-11, page 56.
• University of Kansas publications, Museum of Natural History. 2 1948 Lawrence, University of Kansas. url p. 118, p. 281, p. 335, p. 336, fig. 81, page 337, p. 376, p. 56, p. 639, p. 851.
• Variability of mammals = Izmenchivost' mlekopitayushchikh / A. V. Yablokov; rev. by the author for this ed.; scientific editor of translation, L. Van Valen. New Delhi: available from the U. S. Dept of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, 1974. url p. 28, p. 35, p. 43, p. 45.
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Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Lessa, E., Ojeda, R., Bidau, C. and Emmons, L. 2008. Myocastor coypus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 02February2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

• Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Mammal specimens
• Michigan State University Museum, Vertebrate specimens
• Museum of Texas Tech University
• , Mammal specimens
• Royal Ontario Museum, Mammal specimens
• Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Mammal Collection
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Biological Records Centre - Mammal records from Britain from the Atlas of Mammals
• , with some subsequent records
• University of Navarra, Museum of Zoology, Museum of Zoology, University of Navarra

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 106688
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-180402
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 180402
• IUCN ID: 224986
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AMAFK01010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1111

Footnotes

1. Mean = 28.870 meters (94.718 feet), Standard Deviation = 45.400 based on 133,438 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. Lessa, E., Ojeda, R., Bidau, C. & Emmons, L. 2008. Myocastor coypus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.