Animal control officers captured an exotic rodent indigenous to Argentina in a west valley parking, a Clark County official said Thursday.

Patagonian mara (Clark County)

Animal control officers captured a rodent indigenous to Argentina in a west valley parking lot, a Clark County official said Thursday.

Officers located the Patagonian mara, a South American rodent, at about 3 p.m. in a parking lot near West Sahara Avenue and South Decatur Boulevard, county spokesman Dan Kulin said.

The Patagonian mara was taken to a county animal shelter, Kulin said. Officials do not know who owns the animal, he said.

Patagonian maras are classified as a near-threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Clark County does not classify the species as exotic in its county codes, Kulin said.

Contact Rachel Hershkovitz at rhershkovitz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @rzhershkovitz on Twitter.