Nectomys

The Neotropical water rats ( Nectomys ) are a living in South America rodent genus of the group of the New world. They include five species.

These rodents are adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. The hind legs have a very long and webbed, the tail has on its underside a keel of bristles and the coat is water-repellent. It is yellow-brown or brownish on the top and white colored yellow on the belly. Dimensions are known only from one type, N. squamipes. This reaches a body length 16-26 cm, a tail length of 17-25 cm and a weight of 160-420 grams.

Neotropical water rats are native to South America, their range extends from Colombia to French Guiana and Argentina. They inhabit forests up to 2200 meters above sea level.

These animals live in the vicinity of swamps, lakes or rivers. They are fast swimmers, but can also climb well. They are nocturnal and build nests as resting places. Their diet consists of plants, insects, tadpoles and small fish.

There are five known types:

• Nectomys apicalis lives in the far west of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
• Nectomys magdalenae occurs only in northern Colombia, on the rivers Cauca and Magdalena, before.
• Nectomys palmipes is native to the island of Trinidad and the adjacent parts of Venezuela.
• Nectomys rattus is distributed from eastern Colombia and the three Guiana States into middle Brazil. N. parvipes, which is known only from French Guiana, is now included in this type.
• Nectomys squamipes lives in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.