Ondatra zibethicus
- The muskrat can regulate blood flow to its limbs and tail; its limbs are usually colder than its body.
- The maximum lifespan of a muskrat is 3 years, in captivity up to 10 years. Muskrats live longer in captivity than in nature.
- The muskrat’s lips are covered with incisors, isolating them from the mouth cavity. This allows it to bite underwater plants without drowning.
- The muskrat builds above-water dwellings from aquatic plant stems and mud, up to 1–1.5 m high. The huts are constructed on low, swampy shores.
- One of the most successful invasive rodents.
- It has musk glands whose scent is used in perfumery.
- In captivity it has lived about 3–4 years.
- Litters can contain up to 10–12 young.
- The muskrat is semi-aquatic.
- The main threats are hunting and changes to water bodies.
Старост
Common muskrats typically live for two to four years, although the maximum lifespan can reach ten years, with a theoretical lifespan ranging from seven years and six months to ten years and nine months. The species reaches sexual maturity between ten months and one week and one year of age. Eyes open between two weeks and two weeks and two days; during the embryo stage, the offspring develops inside the mother. The young, after birth, are initially naked and blind, feeding solely on milk, and this infant stage lasts from one day to one month and one week. Following this, the animal enters the adult stage, becoming a reproductive and independent muskrat.
Фенотип
The young muskrat has fur that appears within one week of birth and grows quickly. The species possesses a dense, waterproof coat with a thick undercoat that protects it from cold water. Adult muskrats have webbed feet between their toes to facilitate rapid swimming. They also have a flat tail covered in scales; the tail functions as a rudder while swimming and aids in balancing.
Физиологија
The body length of the muskrat ranges from 11 to 21 centimeters, and its mass varies from 1.28 to 1.29 kilograms; the embryo stage has a body mass of 0 grams, while the young have a body mass ranging from 20 to 150 grams and a body length from 10 to 22 centimeters. As the species develops, the adult stage exhibits a body mass between 0.7 and 1.8 kilograms and a body length from 45 to 60 centimeters.
Станиште
The muskrat inhabits swamps and marshes, on land and in terrestrial forests, with an elevation above sea level potentially reaching up to 1.5 km. The species is found in temperate mixed forests where the summer is warm and there are many oaks, birches, and maples, as well as in flooded meadows with abundant grass, and in taiga with a cold winter and an abundance of spruce and pine. The climate in the muskrat's habitat is characterized by constant humidity and frequent rains, with summers potentially being cool and rainy, and winters snowy, or summers warm and rainy, and winters not very cold.
Склониште
The muskrat uses a burrow as shelter. The species utilizes an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for protection or nesting. Building materials for the shelter include aquatic plants and reeds.
Географија
Common muskrats are found within the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographical realms, inhabiting broadleaf forests of Western Europe, Baltic mixed forests, and European Atlantic mixed forests.
Храна
The muskrat primarily consumes aquatic plants, including stems, roots, leaves, and buds, and also eats mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish. The species obtains food by gnawing on plants with its sharp teeth and gathering it in the water or on the bank. Its diet consists of aquatic plants, reeds, cattails, water lilies, mollusks, small fish, algae, sedges, and reeds. The feeding strategy involves foraging and grazing; the daily food requirement ranges from 200 grams to 0.5 kilograms. Young muskrats are fed milk. Predators include golden eagles, eagles, alligators, rough-legged hawks, martens, stoats, common vipers, mustelids, western rat snakes, and rattlesnakes.
Размножавање
The muskrat is a species that reproduces through live birth, with offspring born alive on land, not hatching from eggs or spawn. A female gives birth to from 5 to 9 offspring after a period of embryonic development lasting 3 weeks 5 days. The reproductive interval is from 1 to 3 months, and maturity occurs at an age of from 8 months to 1 year. Parents build a special hut or use a burrow to protect the offspring, and the mother feeds and guards the young. Eggs, eggs, or offspring develop in a terrestrial nest located directly on the surface of the ground on land, where both parents care for the offspring. Fertilization occurs with homogamy, reproduction is always with fertilization, without changing generations, and the species inhabits and develops on land, outside of water bodies.