---
title: "Coypu"
description: "Myocastor coypus — Mammals. The nutria or coypu is an herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent native to South America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/coypu
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Coypu

> Myocastor coypus — Mammals. The nutria or coypu is an herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent native to South America.

- Scientific name: *Myocastor coypus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 42335
- Wikidata: [Q187704](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q187704)
- iNaturalist taxon: [43997](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43997)

## Names

- en: Coypu
- de: Nutria
- es: Coipú
- fr: Ragondin
- nl: Beverrat
- pt: Ratão-do-banhado
- pl: Nutria amerykańska

## Countries with the most observations

US (10212), FR (6830), IT (5034), DE (4815), AR (3479), CZ (2952), CL (988), BR (633), ES (532), AT (467), JP (429), IL (326)

## Summary

The nutria or coypu is an herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent native to South America.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutria

## Photo

![Coypu](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/coypu/medium.jpg)

Photo: Diego Carús · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/22237575

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/coypu?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).