Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur

Sitio realizado por aficionados a la observación de aves desde 10 de enero 2006

Coypu - Myocastor coypus

Family Myocastoridae

A species characteristic of the Low Delta. It is adapted to aquatic life. It is s trong swimmer and has webbed hind feet
Coypu
Myocastor coypu
Coipo/Coypucoipo JST 6 14Unluckily this coypu appeared in this terrible state on the coast of the river at the end of June. It was small and we could not see the tail. Nevertheless the orange-coloured teeth identify it as a coypu. The bottle cap gives an indication of size © Simón Tagtachian
Coypu
Myocastor coypus
Coipo/Coypu Only one at Canal Viamonte on Wednesday © Sergio Cusano
Coipo/Coypu © J. Simón Tagtachian
Coipo/CoypuBut on Thursday Simón found two coypus. They seem to be in a safe place, where the canal is deep and are protected from dogs, which are their predators.
One of them is on a platform which they build to rest and eat. The coypu is a rodent very well adapted to aquatic life. Here we can only see three fingers of its front leg. But they have four and a very reduced thumb. The hind leg has five well developed fingers and four of them are webbed. All the fingers end in strong claws. They are herbivores.
© J. Simón Tagtachian
Coypu
Myocastor coypus
Coipo/Coypu© J. Simón Tagtachian
In this photo we can see with more detail the interdigital membrane which joins four of the five fingers of the hind leg and the long and conical tail. They eat in this position, sitting on their hind legs and holding the food with the front ones.
Coypu
Myocastor coypus
Coipo/Coypu

Coipo/Coypu

Coipo/Coypu18 6 16 © J. Simón Tagtachian
Detail of the foreleg fingers: four long fingers and a reduced thumb. Coipo/Coypu
The tail is long and conical getting thinner at the tip. It functions like a rudder when it moves in the water.

18 6 16 © Claudia y Tito Di Mauro