from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A large aquatic South American rodent (Myocastor coypus) having webbed feet and a long tail. Also called nutria.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A large, crepuscular, semiaquatic rodent (Myocastor coypus) resembling a large rat, having bright orange-yellow incisors, native to South America, Europe, Asia and North America, valued for its fur in eastern Europe and central Asia and considered a pest elsewhere.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A South American rodent (Myopotamus coypus), allied to the beaver. It produces a valuable fur called nutria.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. aquatic South American rodent resembling a small beaver; bred for its fur
They are also known as coypu, Greek for mouse and beaver and the preferred designation of biologists.
Otherwise known as the coypu, the nutria were introduced to south Louisiana in the 1930s to be raised for their fur.
In most other places they're known as coypu, the name given them by the Arucanians, an indigenous people of south-central Chile and Argentina, the animal's native territory.
These sturdy immigrants threaten some of our 46 native ladybirds in the manner of the coypu and grey squirrel.
Or maybe you're convinced by the claims of the fashion designers using "ethical fur" sourced from an animal called the nutria - or, as it's more commonly known, the coypu or bayou water rat?
Darwin provides examples such as the rhea and ostrich, agouti and rabbit, coypu and beaver, capybara and muskrat.
In East Anglia the South American coypu caused untold environmental damage.
The nipples of female coypu are high on her flanks.
We ascend the lofty peaks of the Cordillera and we find an alpine species of bizcacha; we look to the waters, and we do not find the beaver or musk-rat, but the coypu and capybara, rodents of the American type.
As well as dwarf breeds of cattle, sheep and goats, the book covers more unusual species that can be farmed profitably including deer, the giant rat, coypu and guinea pig are dealt with.