Card #006 · Mammals
Capybara
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
Common LC · Least Concern
Field notes
- Classification
- Order Rodentia · Family Caviidae
- Range
- South America
- Size
- 106–134 cm (50–62 cm tall)
- Weight
- 35–66 kg
- Lifespan
- 8–10 yrs
- Diet
- Herbivore
Most Notable
The largest rodent alive and as heavy as a grown adult, it is built for water: it can float almost fully submerged and stay underwater for up to five minutes.
Unshakably calm, the capybara lets tick-eating birds ride on its back and tolerates almost any companion, which has made it an internet emblem of total serenity.
Capybaras are rodents, close cousins of the guinea pig, and can weigh more than 60 kg (130 lb); the heaviest on record was near 90 kg.
They are intensely social, living in groups of ten to twenty that swell to fifty or more in the dry season, and they keep in touch with a surprising range of purrs, barks, whistles, and clicks.
Like rabbits, they eat their own droppings each morning to wring a second round of nutrition and gut bacteria from tough grasses, and their cheek teeth grow continuously for life.
Their easygoing reputation is real enough that photographers regularly catch birds, monkeys, and even young caimans lounging on or beside a resting capybara.
Range: South American wetlands east of the Andes, Panama to Argentina