Coypu once numbered in the tens of thousands and had destroyed thousands of acres of marshland, had nearly succeeded by 2012. Coypu The coypu (, ; "Myocastor coypus"), also known as the nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, "Myocastor" is actually nested within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats. The coypu lives in burrows alongside stretches of water, and feeds on river plant stems. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by
Precious (given name) were 154 American girls given the name. In the United States, the name has been used predominantly by African Americans. According to one study, of 454 girls named Precious in California during the 1990s, 431 of them were African American. It remained a popular name in the Philippines, where it was the ninth most popular name given to newborn girls in 2011. There were 394 newborn Filipino girls named Precious in 2011. Precious (given name) Precious is a predominantly feminine given name derived from the English word meaning "of great worth." It is also in occasional use for males. It