A large semiaquatic rodent (Myocastor coypus) native to South America, resembling a beaver or muskrat, with a long round tail.
From Spanish 'coipo' or Portuguese 'coipo', borrowed from Mapuche (a South American indigenous language). The word entered English in the 1800s as these animals became known to fur traders.
Coypus were captured from South America and brought to fur farms around the world, but escaped populations now threaten entire wetland ecosystems in places like Britain, Canada, and Australia.
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