Nutria Skull Replica

$85.00

The orange discoloration on their teeth is due to pigment staining from the mineral iron in the tooth enamel. Nutria have prominent four inch long whiskers on each side of their muzzle or cheek area.

Description

Nutria Skull Replica measures 5.8 inches. Nutria Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Made in USA. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). Made in USA. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.

The Nutria or Coypu (Myocastor coypus) is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. The Nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds on river plant stems and it is considered an invasive species in the United States.

Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe and Asia, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, its destructive burrowing and feeding habits often bring it into conflict with humans.

The Nutria resembles a very large rat with a small, long and skinny hairless tail. Adults are typically 9 to 20 lb. in weight, and 16 to 24 in. in body length, with a 12 to 18 in. tail. Adults usually average 10 to 15 lb.

Nutria have three sets of fur. The guard hairs on the outer coat are three inches long. They have coarse, darkish brown midlayer fur with soft dense grey under fur. They have a white patch on the muzzle, webbed hind feet, and large, bright orange-yellow incisors. They have approximately 20 teeth with four large incisors that grow during the entirety of their lives. The orange discoloration on their teeth is due to pigment staining from the mineral iron in the tooth enamel.

Besides breeding quickly, each Nutria consumes large amounts of aquatic vegetation. An individual consumes about 25% of its body weight daily. They eat the base of the above ground stems of plants, and often dig through soil for roots and rhizomes.

Nutria eat the following plant varieties: cattail, rushes, reeds, arrowheads, flatsedges, and cordgrasses. Commercial crops that nutria also eat are lawn grasses, alfalfa, corn, rice, and sugarcane.

Nutria Facts:

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Echimyidae
Subfamily: Echimyinae
Tribe: Myocastorini
Genus: Myocastor
Species: M. coypus
Binomial name: Myocastor coypus

Additional information

Weight 2.6 lbs
Dimensions 5.8 in