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Capybara
Conservation status
Not Listed[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Hystricomorpha Family: Caviidae Subfamily: Hydrochoerinae Genus: Hydrochoerus Brisson, 1762 Species: H. hydrochaeris
Binomial name
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766)
Capybara range

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris,^[2] also known as capibara, chigüire and carpincho in Spanish,^[3][4] and capivara in Portuguese^[4]) is the largest rodent in the world,^[5] related to agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs.^[1] Its common name, derived from Kapiÿva in the Guarani Indian language,^[4] means "Master of the Grasses"^[6] while its scientific name, hydrochaeris, is Greek for "water hog".^[1]

Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Adult capybaras may grow to 130 centimetres (4.3 ft) and 50 centimetres (1.6 ft) tall, weighing up to 65 kg (140 lbs).^{[7][8][9][10]} Capybaras have slightly webbed feet and no tail; their back legs are slightly longer than their front legs and their muzzles are blunt with eyes, nostrils, and ears on top of their head.^[11] Capybaras have 20 teeth.^[12] Females are slightly heavier than males.^[1]

Though now extinct, there once existed larger capybaras that were eight times the size of modern capybaras (these rodents would have been larger than a grizzly bear).^[11][12]

Contents 1 Development 2 Habitat 3 Diet 4 Behavior 5 Conservation 6 Human interaction 7 Extinct relatives 8 See also 9 Gallery 10 External links 11 References

Capybaras reach sexual maturity within 18 months^[11] and breed when conditions are right, which can be once per year (such as in Brazil) or throughout the year (such as in Venezuela and Colombia). The male pursues a female and mounts when the female stops in water. Capybara gestation is 130–150 days and usually produces a litter of four capybara babies, but may produce between two and eight in a single litter.^[9] Birth is on land and the female will rejoin the group within a few hours of delivering the newborn capybaras, who will join the group as soon as they are mobile. Within a week the young can eat grass, but will continue to suckle - from any female in the group - until weaned at about 16 weeks. Youngsters will form a group within the main group.^[11][6] The rainy season of April and May mark the peak breeding season.^[4] Like other rodents, the front teeth of capybaras grow continually to compensate for the constant wearing-down from eating grasses;^[6] their cheek teeth also grow continuously.^[5] When fully grown, a capybara will have coarse hair that is sparsely spread over their skin, making the capybara prone to sunburn. To prevent this, they may roll in mud to protect their skin from the sun.^[12]

Capybara are semi-aquatic mammals^[10] found wild in much of South America (including Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, French Guyana, Uruguay, Peru, and Paraguay^[6]) in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds and marshes,^[7][8] such as flooded savannah and along rivers in tropical forest.^[11] They roam in home ranges of 25–50 acres (10–20 ha).^[12]

Capybara is a herbivore (more specifically, a graminivore,^[6] grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants,^[7][3] as well as fruit and tree bark.^[8][10] An adult capybara will eat 6 to 8 pounds (2.7 to 3.6 kg) of grasses per day.^[12] Capybara's jaw hinge is non-perpendicular and they thus chew food by grinding back and forth rather than side-to-side.^[5]

Capybaras are social animals, usually found in groups, between 10 and 30 (though looser groups of up to 100 sometimes can be formed),^[11] controlled by a dominant male^[7] (who will have a prominent scent gland on his nose^[11] used for smearing his scent on the grasses in his territory.^[6] They communicate through a combination of scent and sound, being very vocal animals with purrs and alarm barks,^[11] whistles and clicks, squeals and grunts.^[6]

Capybaras are excellent swimmers^[8] and can survive completely underwater for up to five minutes,^[7] an ability they will use to evade predators.^[8] If necessary, a Capybara can sleep underwater, keeping its nose just at the waterline.^[8]

Capybaras eat their own faeces in the morning in order to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet. During midday, as temperatures increase, Capybaras wallow in water to keep cool and then graze in late afternoons and early evenings. They sleep little, usually dozing off and on throughout the day and grazing into and through the night.^[11]

Capybara are not on the IUCN list^[1] and so not considered a threatened species; their population is stable through most of their South American ranges, though in some areas hunting has reduced their numbers.^[6][7] They have a lifespan of 4-8 years in the wild^[8] but average a life less than four years as they are "a favourite food of anacondas, jaguar, puma, ocelot, eagle and caiman".^[6]

Capybaras are hunted for their meat and skins in some areas, and otherwise killed by humans who see their grazing as competition for livestock. The skins are particularly prized for making fine gloves because of its odd characteristic—it stretches in just one direction.^[13][3] In some areas they are farmed, which has the effect of insuring that the wetland habitats are protected. Their survival is aided by their ability to breed rapidly.^[6]

Capybaras can be found in many areas in zoos and parks, sometimes allowed to roam freely and may live for 12 years in captivity.^[11][6]

Capybaras are gentle and will usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them. Capybara skin is tough, and thus in some areas where capybaras are wild, they are hunted for meat and their skin, which is turned into a high-quality leather,^[6] while some ranchers hunt them for fear of the competition for grazing. The meat is said to both look and taste like pork.^[4] The Capybara meat is dried and salted, then shredded and seasoned.^[14] Considered a delicacy, it is often served with rice and plantains.^[15]

During the Christian celebration of Lent, capybara meat is especially popular as the Catholic church, in a special dispensation, classified the animal as a fish in the 16th century.^{[12][4][14][16][15]}

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Neochoerus pinckneyi Fossil range: Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Hystricomorpha Family: Caviidae Subfamily: Hydrochoerinae Genus: †Neochoerus Species: †N. pinckneyi (Hay, 1923)
Binomial name
†Neochoerus pinckneyi

Neochoerus pinckneyi ("Pinckney's New Hog") was a North American species of capybara. It is one of the largest rodent species ever discovered (behind several species of Phoberomys, and possibly the Pleistocene giant beaver). Remains have been found in southern North America and throughout Central America.^[17][18]

A six week old pet capybara drinks milk from a bottle (August 2007)	A privately-owned Capybara in Texas with a harness for a leash, similar to cats or dogs (November 2007)	Capybara at The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. (September 2006)	Capybara at the Prague Zoological Garden (September 2006)
Capybara at the Prague Zoological Garden (September 2006)	Capybara near Rurenabaque in Bolivia (August 2003)	Capybara near Rurenabaque in Bolivia (August 2003)	Capybara at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin (September 2004)
Capybara: Front view of a capybara (February 2004)	Swimming capybara at Iberá Marshes in Corrientes, Argentina (August 2002)	Capybara at Burgers Zoo, The Netherlands (May 2007)	Capybara from the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico (May 2007)
Capybara at the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England (December 2005)	Soaking-wet capybara in Brazil (September 2006)	Capybara at Kolmården Zoo in Sweden (2005)	Capybara with young at the Zoo Schönbrunn in Vienna (2005)
Young Capybaras at the Zoo Schönbrunn in Vienna (2005)	Capybara resting (March 2005)	A capybara family (male in lead) swims in a lake in the Los Llanos region of Venezuela (February 2007)	Capybaras at sunset in the Los Llanos region of Venezuela (February 2007)
A group of capybaras in the Los Llanos region of Venezuela (February 2007)	Capybaras crossing a lake in the Los Llanos region of Venezuela (February 2007)	A Capybara in Brazil	Brazilian capybara
Depiction of a group of Capybara	Capybara skull (scientific drawing)	Capybara illustration	Capybara profile view

• German Language Wikipedia article on Capybara, mechanically translated into English by Google