Capybara - Largest Rodent

Capybara - Largest Rodent

1. Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. As a relative of the guinea pig, capybaras look like a super-sized version of their smaller cousins. They stand about two feet tall and can weigh up to 150 pounds! They have barrel-shaped bodies with rectangular heads. As prey animals, their eyes are located on the sides of their heads for maximized peripheral vision. They are covered in coarse hair and have partially webbed toes that allow them to glide through the water and stay atop muddy marshlands without sinking. 

2. The Capybara is classified as a mammal because it’s warm-blooded, it has fur, and they have lungs.

3. It is a very big rodent. It weighs about 100 pounds.

4. The Capybara is classified as a mammal because capybaras have live births. The moms feed their babies with the mother’s milk.

5. The capybara’s size is they may grow up to be about 130 centimeters in length. That is about 4.3 feet long. They’re the size of a big lunch cooler. A capybaras fur is brownish red.

6. A Capybara acts like a cute baby dog. Capybaras live in grassy areas in the rain forests. They like shady areas and live in the northern part of South America.

7. Did you know Capybaras can weigh up to 180 pounds.

8. The capybara is a grazing herbivore, eating mainly grasses and aquatic plants.

9. A daddy Capybara is as wild as a  wild dog. A dad Capybara picks out a good safe home for its younglings. Adult capybaras are about as long as a 2 year old.

10. A capybara lives on the rainforest floor to find food. A capybara eats grass, flowers, and plants.

11. Capybaras eat for an hour.

12. A Capybara has 4 toes in the front and 3 in the back. Capybaras only have 2 buck teeth like beavers. Capybaras swim well.

13. Capybaras are like pigs, but cuter.

14. In the wild, capybaras eat the plants and grasses that grow in the marshy areas in which they live. Capybaras can eat 6-8lbs of plant material each day. They chew from side to side rather than up and down, allowing them to grind tough plants up more efficiently with their long rows of flat molars.

15. Capybaras have also been known to participate in caecotrophy, eating their own feces to absorb more nutrients.  At the Zoo, the capybaras eat grass hay, specially formulated rodent pellets, beet pulp, fruits, and vegetables. 

16. These rodents nearly always defecate in the water. It is thought that by using the water as a toilet, it will wash away or reduce the scent of the capybaras, making it less likely for predators to find them. They can also hold their breath for up to five minutes! 

17. The capybara’s eyes, nostrils and ears are located near the top of the head an adaptation for their semi-aquatic life. They are excellent divers and swimmers with partially webbed toes. When threatened by predators on land, they retreat to the safety of water, and escape by swimming away, hiding in floating vegetation or staying submerged for several minutes.

18. Like all rodents, the capybara’s two front teeth continuously grow throughout their life. They gnaw on tree trunks and chew grasses to wear down the teeth. These herbivores are very efficient grazers using their teeth to crop short grasses and other vegetation. 

19. The capybara diet is high in cellulose, which is hard to digest. To process the cellulose they have a large fermentation chamber called the cecum, but they are unable to absorb nutrients from the cecum. To allow for more complete absorption of the nutrients capybaras recycle their food by ingesting their feces - a practice called coprophagy. 

20. They communicate with sounds including whistles, barks, growls, squeaks and twitters, as well as with scent glands.