Big Water Rodent

Monster rodents haunted new york city long before the arrival of the sewer rat.

Big water rodent.

The big apple had once been the home of castoroides bear sized beavers who were 213 centimeters 7 ft long and weighed over 90 kilograms 200 lb. Nutria are large web footed rodents that are more agile in the water than on land. The coypu lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds on river plant stems. Nutria also known as coypu or swamp rats are large rodents that live in areas with lots of freshwater.

Aquatic adaptations they live in burrows or nests never far from the water. Myocastor coypus also known as the nutria is a large herbivorous semiaquatic rodent classified for a long time as the only member of the family myocastoridae myocastor is now included within echimyidae the family of the spiny rats. The coypu from spanish coipú from mapudungun koypu. For comparison the largest modern beavers top out at 27 kilograms 60 lb.

They exhibit many adaptations associated with hunting in water for food and burrowing along streams rivers and lakes. These mammals are native to south america and were introduced into the united states. Also called capivara in brazil chigüire chigüiro in colombia and venezuela carpincho in argentina paraguay and uruguay and ronsoco in peru it is a member of the genus hydrochoerus of which the only other extant member is the lesser capybara.