Life and Environment
The capybara, or Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris, is a stocky fellow and is the world's largest rodent. He's also known as the water hog. He's furry and rather cute, with a color from brown to reddish-brown to yellow, and he lives a humble and peaceful life in the wild.
The capybara was built to swim. He has an oblong head, with eyes, ears, and nostrils on top. This enables him to see, hear, and smell even when swimming or in water. The capybara can remain submerged for up to five minutes and can swim long distances while submerged. This helps him to avoid predators.
The capybara has thin fur, allowing it to dry quickly after leaving the water. His skin is unusual because the epidermis is covered in tissue folds that create a larger area for cooling the body. However, it's difficult for the capybara to stay cool because of his lack of effective sweat glands.
The capybara has short, stubby legs with four toes in front, and three in back. Each toe has a hoof-like claw. The claws are connected by webbing. This enables the capybara to negotiate muddy areas without sinking and to easily travel marshy, swampy areas.
Digesting grasses isn't an easy task, but the capybara has adapted to this quite well. He's got two pairs of large rodent incisors, with molars located on each side of the lower jaw.
Capybaras must live in areas where there are sources of fresh, not salt, water. They're found in marshes and swamps, or near rivers and lakes.
Capybaras are herbivores, which means they eat only plants. They eat the grasses and aquatic plants that are found alongside the rivers and in the marshes they inhabit. They can eat up to eight pounds of grass a day.
The capybara inhabits warmer climates, such as those of Central and South America. Because of this, the capybara is most active in the morning and evening, spending the hottest part of the day cooling off in the water.
Capybaras also eat their own feces, which contain bacteria that helps to break down the fiber from the grasses and plants for easier digestion. During droughts, capybaras also expand their diet to consume melons, squashes, grains, and various reeds.
Social Behavior & Reproduction
Capybaras are very social creatures. They live in herds of up to 20 members, with a dominant male, several females and their young, and some submissive males. Only the dominant male may breed with the females. Capybaras will rarely accept a stranger into their herd.
Capybaras reproduce once a year if the conditions are right. While they don't require violins and a candlelit dinner, they do need a rainy season, preferably April or May. They become sexually mature at around 18 months. The male detects when the female is ready to mate by her scent and then they breed in the water.
The gestation period of the capybara is about 150 days. Two to eight pups are born, weighing two to four pounds each. The female leaves the herd to give birth somewhere private, then returns to be followed by the pups three or four days later, when they learn how to walk.
Capybara pups drink mom's milk until they are around four months old, but they can also eat grass after about a week. All of the females in the herd share the responsibility of providing milk for the pups.
Predators & Longevity
The capybara has quite a few local predators in his environment. These include large reptiles, such as the anaconda and caimans, which are reptiles similar to alligators and crocodiles. Jaguars and other wild cats like pumas and ocelots may also be looking for dinner. The capybara can move pretty quickly, and upon sighting a predator, he usually takes off through the water to escape. The herd must be careful to protect its pups, because large birds, like eagles and vultures, can prey upon the smaller members. Foxes, otters, and wild dogs may also pose a threat. In the wild, the capybara can live up to eight to ten years. In captivity, he can live a few years longer.
The capybara isn't considered to be under any official threat of extinction, despite rainforest destruction and other habitat threats. However, he's sometimes hunted for his meat and hide in areas of South America, and this has decreased the capybara population.
Lesson Summary
The capybara, the world's largest rodent, is also known as the water hog. He's pretty large, weighing up to 165 pounds and reaches a length of about 4.6 feet. He's stocky, with an oblong head with eyes, nose, and ears all on top, enabling him to see, hear, and smell while swimming.
The capybara can remain submerged for up to five minutes and is an excellent swimmer. He's an herbivore, or plant-eating animal. Capybaras are found mainly in the warm climates of South and Central America. The capybara reproduces once a year when conditions are right. Females give birth to live pups, in litters of about two to eight.
Capybaras must avoid their predators, which are large snakes and reptiles, as well as wild cats such as jaguars and ocelots, though they're also somewhat threatened by hunting and deforestation.
