Nutria
Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782)
The nutria (Myocastor coypus), also called the coypu, is a rodent in the family Echimyidae of the order Rodentia. It is a medium-sized, nocturnal, terrestrial herbivore with an adult body mass of 6.9 kg, and our sources report values from 6.36 to 7.15 kg.
Quick facts about the nutria
Gestation lasts 131.9 days, litters hold from 3 to 6 young with 2.32 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 155.9 days. The nutria is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 6.36 kg – 7.15 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 8.48 years – 12 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 127 days – 139 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3 – 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4.99 months – 5.25 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2.32src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the nutria
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the nutria live?
Not recorded
What is the nutria?
The nutria () or coypu () (Myocastor coypus) is an herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent native to South America.
Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, Myocastor has since been included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats.
The nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds mainly on aquatic and riparian vegetation. In its native range it forms part of South American wetland food webs and can contribute to the dispersal of aquatic plants and spores.
Native to subtropical and temperate South America, it was introduced to North America, Europe and Asia, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, introduced populations can damage wetland vegetation and infrastructure through feeding and burrowing, and the species is considered invasive in several countries. Some populations can carry some zoonotic pathogens, including pathogenic Leptospira, although their epidemiological significance is scarce and region-specific.
From the Wikipedia article “Nutria” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nutria&oldid=1381808892), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the nutria sound like?
Is the nutria endangered?
The nutria is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the nutria classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyEchimyidae
- genusMyocastor
- SpeciesMyocastor coypus (Molina, 1782)
Synonyms Mus coypus, Myocastor coypus sanctaecruzae
Other names and names in other languages (63)
- CoypuEnglish
- CoypuEnglish
- Coypu, nutriaEnglish
- BewerrotAfrikaans
- كيبArabic
- NutriyakimilərAzerbaijani
- НутрыяBelarusian
- НутрияBulgarian
- Avank-SpagnBreton
- Barska nutrijaBosnian
- Nutrie říčníCzech
- CoipwWelsh
- CoipwodWelsh
- SumpbæverDanish
- BæverrotteDanish
- BiberratteGerman
- SchweifbiberGerman
- SchweifratteGerman
- SumpfbiberGerman
- WasserratteGerman
- ΜυοκάστοραςGreek
- KojpoEsperanto
- CoipoSpanish
- CoipúSpanish
- coypuSpanish
- Falsa nutriaSpanish
- KoipuBasque
- nutriaFrench
- Castor du ChiliFrench
- Lièvre des maraisFrench
- MyocastorFrench
- MyopotameFrench
- RagondinFrench
- BeverrôtWestern Frisian
- נוטרייהHebrew
- נוטריהHebrew
- BjórrottaIcelandic
- CastorinoItalian
- Castoro di paludeItalian
- MiopotamoItalian
- Topo d'acquaItalian
- ヌートリアJapanese
- ნუტრიაGeorgian
- Саз құндызыKazakh
- 뉴트리아Korean
- NutrijaLithuanian
- ВедькрисаErzya
- sumpbeverNorwegian Bokmål
- beverrotteNorwegian Bokmål
- beverratDutch
- MoerasbeverDutch
- OeverbeverDutch
- nutria amerykańskaPolish
- Ratão-do-banhadoPortuguese
- NutrieRomanian
- nutria riečnaSlovak
- НутријаSerbian
- sumpbäverSwedish
- นากหญ้าThai
- KoypuTurkish
- НутріяUkrainian
- RagondenVenetian
- 海狸鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the nutria
Other species in the same family Echimyidae.
Cuban hutia
Capromys pilorides
Indian coney
Geocapromys brownii
Armored rat
Hoplomys gymnurus
Cabrera s hutia
Mesocapromys angelcabrerai
Atlantic bamboo rat
Kannabateomys amblyonyx
Spiny tree rat
Mesomys hispidus
CompareNutria vs Cuban hutiaNutria vs Indian coneyNutria vs Armored ratNutria vs Cabrera s hutia
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a nutria?
The nutria is a mammal, a rodent of the family Echimyidae in the order Rodentia. It is also called the coypu.
How heavy is a nutria?
An adult nutria weighs 6.9 kg, with values from 6.36 to 7.15 kg reported by our sources. This places it in the medium size class.
What does a nutria eat?
The nutria is a herbivore.
Is the nutria endangered?
No. The nutria is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a nutria live?
The nutria has a lifespan of 8.5 years, with values up to 12 years reported by our sources.
How many young does a nutria have?
A nutria litter holds from 3 to 6 young, and it has 2.32 litters per year. Gestation lasts 131.9 days.
Who named the nutria?
The scientific name Myocastor coypus is credited to (Molina, 1782), meaning Molina in 1782.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Nutria (Myocastor coypus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/nutria
“Nutria (Myocastor coypus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/nutria.
@misc{nutria_2026,
title = {Nutria (Myocastor coypus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/nutria},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}