Nutria

nutria

The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), also known as Oz moorhen, otter, giant wolf of the river, is a mammal mustelidae, characteristic of the Pantanal and the Amazon River basin in South America.

Etymology

"Ariranha" comes from ari'raña Tupi-Guarani word meaning "ounce of water." The Spanish are occasionally used "Wolf River" (río Wolf) and dog water (agua de perro), and may have been more common in reports of Spanish explorers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

All three names are used with regional variations, along with otter-giant (in Portuguese) and harbored giant (in Spanish). In the Achuar people are known as wankanim, and between Sanumá as Hadami .. The genus name "Pteronura" derives from the ancient Greek pteron / πτερον (feather or wing) and ura / ουρά (tail), in reference to its distinctive tail like with a wing.

feeding

The giant otter lives and hunts in groups that can reach the ten individuals and feeds on fish, especially characins as piranha and betrayed. Ingests them always with his head out of the water, often swimming picturesquely behind. In conditions of scarcity, the groups hunt small alligators and snakes, which can even be small anacondas. In its habitat, adult otters are top predators in the food chain.