Myocastor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of large semiaquatic South American rodents that includes the coypu, valued for its fur and known for its orange incisors
2. The scientific name for a genus of big water-dwelling rodents native to South America, which contains the coypu species
3. Refers to a group of large aquatic herbivorous rodents from South America, closely related to the nutria and noted for webbed feet

Etymology: Myocastor is the scientific genus name for the coypu, a large semi-aquatic rodent native to South America. The name was coined in the nineteenth century from Greek roots: "mys," meaning mouse or muscle, and "kastor," meaning beaver, so the literal sense is roughly "mouse-beaver." The animal does resemble a beaver in its habits, swimming and feeding in water and building burrows in riverbanks, but it is not closely related to beavers at all. The coypu's common name has a different origin. It comes from the Spanish or Portuguese name used in South America, which in turn reflects a local Indigenous word, and the animal was later introduced to Europe and elsewhere, where it became a notorious pest after escaping from fur farms. Because the genus name was built by naturalists rather than inherited from ancient writers, the Greek parts only meet at the moment of classification. Ancient Greeks had no word for this animal, so the "mouse-beaver" sense is a modern description rather than a historical one.

Synonyms: coypu, nutria