nutria

/ˈnutriə/

/ˈnutriə/

Other forms: nutrias

The nutria is a large South American rodent that resembles a beaver with a long, hairless tail. In many parts of the U.S., nutria are considered a destructive invasive species.

Though nutria are aquatic, they are definitely not otters; nevertheless, nutria means "otter" in Spanish. In several other languages, the word for nutria means "rat beaver," a good basic description of this rodent's appearance. Nutria were introduced to the U.S. by 19th-century fur traders. By the 1940s, the fur market had collapsed and thousands of nutria were released into the wild. They have no native North American predators and are destructive to many ecosystems, particularly marshes and wetlands.

Definitions of nutria

1. noun

   aquatic South American rodent resembling a small beaver; bred for its fur
   synonyms: Myocastor coypus, coypu

   type of:

   gnawer, rodent

   relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing