61 Fun Facts About Capybara

Which is the only country in South America with no native capybaras?

Chile. Capybaras range through the lowlands east of the Andes, from Venezuela to northern Argentina, and Chile lies almost entirely on the far side of the mountains.

The word 'capybara' comes from which indigenous South American language?

Tupi. Spoken along South America's Atlantic coast when the Portuguese arrived, it also gave English the animal names jaguar, piranha and tapir.

In which animated film does a cat ride out a great flood on a boat with a capybara?

Flow. The Latvian film has no dialogue at all, and its small independent team beat the big studios to the Oscar for best animated feature.

The genus name Hydrochoerus is built from Greek words meaning what?

Water pig. Linnaeus himself classed the animal with the pigs in 1766, naming it Sus hydrochaeris.

Molecular studies show the capybara's closest living relatives are which small South American rodents?

Rock cavies. A 2002 DNA study placed them as the capybaras' sister group, which is why many classifications now fold capybaras into the guinea pig family.

How does the IUCN Red List classify the capybara?

Least concern. Capybaras are hunted for meat and hides in parts of South America, yet they remain numerous across a wide range, and their overall population is rated stable.

Unlike most rodents, an adult capybara has almost no what?

Tail. Like its guinea pig relatives it has only a vestigial stub, so the largest living rodent looks more like a giant guinea pig than a giant rat.

The heaviest wild capybara on record weighed about how much?

91 kg, about 200 pounds, for an animal from the south of the species' range; capybaras grow bigger the farther they live from the equator.

Which naturalist, visiting South America in the 1830s, called the capybara 'the largest gnawing animal in the world'?

Charles Darwin. He shot one near Montevideo that weighed 98 pounds, and found others so tame that he could walk to within three yards of them.

Compared with adult males, adult female capybaras are typically what?

Slightly heavier. Even so, each capybara group is led by a dominant male, whose position can go unchallenged for years.

A capybara has 66 chromosomes, 20 more than which species?

Humans. People make do with 46 chromosomes to the capybara's 66, yet both are outdone by dogs and chickens, which carry 78 apiece.

Escaped capybaras are sighted fairly often in which US state?

Florida. Animals that got out of captivity turn up there so regularly that University of Florida biologists say the state could end up with a wild population.

Capybaras are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to how long?

Five minutes. Diving is its main escape: a threatened capybara bolts for the nearest river or pond and stays under until the danger on the bank has passed.

When do capybaras do most of their grazing?

Late afternoon into the night. Mornings are for dozing, and the herd then grazes on and off through the dark hours, with one last session before dawn.

Where in a capybara herd does the dominant male usually sit?

In the centre. Rank decides the seating plan: the biggest male takes the middle, and his hold on the spot can last for years.

Capybaras found living on their own are usually what?

Males driven from a herd. A dominant male harries his rivals until they leave, and a loner pays dearly: no share of the grazing, no mate and no lookouts.

To keep their grass-digesting gut bacteria topped up, capybaras regularly do what?

Eat their own droppings. Biologists call it coprophagy: tough grass needs two trips through the gut, so the first round goes back in to yield its last protein and vitamins.

Like guinea pigs and humans, capybaras cannot synthesize which nutrient, so zoo diets must supply it?

Vitamin C. In one trial, capybaras fed pellets without it came down with scurvy inside a few months, with inflamed gums and incisors that snapped.

Which snake is a notable predator of capybaras?

Green anaconda. The world's heaviest snake hunts in the very shallows where capybaras wallow, and it is mostly the young that it takes.

Capybara herds can swell to a hundred or more during which time of year?

Dry season. As ponds and streams shrink, separate herds crowd around whatever water is left, then split up again once the rains return.

The 'morrillo' is a capybara scent gland found where on the body?

On the snout. The bare, raised gland is far bigger in males, who rub it on plants, and its size works as a badge of rank.

How does a female capybara let males know she is in estrus?

By whistling. Her cycle comes round every seven or eight days but the fertile window is short, so it pays to advertise and bring the males running.

Where do capybaras mate?

Only in water. The setting gives the female the last word: if she doesn't fancy a suitor she simply dives, or walks out onto the bank.

What is a baby capybara called?

A pup. Capybara pups are born fully furred and with their teeth already through, and they are on their feet following the herd almost at once.

Newborn capybaras can start eating grass within roughly how long?

A week. Capybaras are born remarkably advanced, yet they go on taking milk for months after their first mouthfuls of grass.

Which dog-like sound do capybaras make when threatened?

Barks. One sharp bark from a lookout is often enough to send the whole herd stampeding for the nearest river or pond.

Zookeepers in Japan made capybaras their stars for 2020 because it was which animal's year in the Chinese zodiac?

Rat. As the world's largest rodent the capybara made the obvious poster animal, and one zoo hoped the tie-in would also charm visitors arriving for the Olympics.

Petting capybaras is discouraged because their ticks can carry which disease?

Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In South America it is known as Brazilian spotted fever, and capybaras matter because they carry the ticks that pass the bacterium on to people.

In 2016, two capybaras nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde spent weeks on the run from a zoo in which Canadian city?

Toronto. The pair bolted from High Park Zoo minutes after arriving for a breeding programme, and the second stayed free for more than a month.

In Venezuela, capybara meat is traditionally popular during which part of the Christian calendar?

Lent. Legend has it that clergy persuaded the Vatican to class the swimming rodent with fish, and its dried, salted meat became a Holy Week staple.

Which cat is the main natural predator of full-grown capybaras?

Jaguar. Where the big cats survive they remain a serious cause of capybara deaths, which is why a grazing herd never stops watching for danger.

Izu Shaboten Zoo in Japan is famous for offering its capybaras what?

Hot spring baths. The custom began in 1982, when a keeper hosing the pen with hot water turned round to find the capybaras huddled in a warm puddle.

Which Life of Mammals episode, on rodents, features the capybara?

Chisellers. The name nods to the sharp, ever-growing front teeth that every rodent shares, and the capybara appears as the largest of the lot.

Around each winter solstice, Japan's Izu Shaboten Zoo treats its capybaras to which fragrant citrus fruit?

Yuzu. The zoo makes a ritual of it every winter, borrowing a Japanese folk remedy that is said to keep colds away.

2020s capybara memes commonly pair the animal with 'After Party', a song by which rapper?

Don Toliver. His 2020 single first spread through TikTok dance clips, and only afterwards became the standard soundtrack for capybara videos.

In 2021 capybaras made news for overrunning Nordelta, a gated community outside which city?

Buenos Aires. Nordelta was built over wetlands the animals already lived in, so, as one ecologist put it, it was the estate that invaded the capybaras.

By what name are capybaras commonly known in Argentina?

Carpincho. Mammalogists have logged some 190 local names for the animal, most from Indigenous languages, so what it is called changes from one region to the next.

Social media users jokingly adopted the Nordelta capybaras as a symbol of what?

Class struggle. Posts hailed the animals as comrades taking back their land from the rich, since the luxury estate had been built over their wetland home.

The lesser capybara, Hydrochoerus isthmius, was first described in 1912 from which country?

Panama. A specimen from Darién province was named as a new species, though some zoologists later folded it into its bigger cousin.

Which animal ranks as the world's second-largest living rodent, behind the capybara?

Beaver. Both giants are built for a life in the water, but only the beaver fells trees and dams streams, while the capybara simply grazes the banks.

An Ice Age capybara was named hesperotiganites, Greek for 'western' what, after its crushed skull?

Pancake. The only known skull had been squashed flat in the mud of an ancient lake bed in San Diego County, where it turned up during building work.

Zizito, a capybara, was the official mascot of which football tournament in 2019?

Copa América. Fans voted on the name, which honours Zizinho, the forward whose 17 goals made him the tournament's joint record scorer.

The skull of Josephoartigasia monesi, the largest rodent ever found, was unearthed in which country?

Uruguay. Bite models suggest the giant, a relative of the pacarana, not the capybara, used its huge incisors the way an elephant uses its tusks.

Kurloff cells, a distinctive cell type shared by capybaras and guinea pigs, are found in what?

Blood. In guinea pigs their numbers surge during pregnancy, and in a survey of wild capybaras the only animal with them circulating was an expectant mother.

Eadweard Muybridge's 'Capybara Walking', a University of Pennsylvania motion study, used an animal from which zoo?

Philadelphia Zoo. He spent weeks of two summers photographing its animals, and the capybara ended up among the 781 plates of his Animal Locomotion.

Which bird of prey is known to pick ticks off capybaras and tapirs?

Yellow-headed caracara. Capybaras welcome the service: they have been seen turning to present their flanks and belly for the bird to clean.

The rodent ancestors of capybaras most likely reached South America by rafting from which continent?

Africa. The crossing came more than 30 million years ago, when the Atlantic was narrower, and monkeys are thought to have made the same accidental voyage.

The mocó, a small cousin of the capybara, is endemic to which country?

Brazil. It lives in the dry north-east and looks uncannily like a hyrax, an unrelated animal shaped by the same way of life.

Where are a capybara's eyes, ears and nostrils positioned?

Near the top of its head. The layout lets a capybara float almost fully submerged while it still breathes, listens and keeps watch, much as a hippo does.

When their usual grasses run short, capybaras fall back on grazing which plants?

Reeds. On one Venezuelan savanna, capybaras all but ignored reeds while richer grasses were growing, then turned to them when drought left little else.

Capybaras have flourished in which type of human-made landscape?

Cattle ranches. Ranchers remove predators, store water and keep the grass short, so some districts may now hold more capybaras than before the land was settled.

Which crocodilians are regular predators of capybaras, especially the young?

Caimans. The pools that shelter capybaras from danger on land are exactly where these reptiles lie in wait, so no refuge is completely safe.

A capybara's toes end in sturdy nails that are often compared to small what?

Hooves. Between those hoof-like nails the toes are joined by webbing, so the same feet that walk the bank also paddle the animal through water.

Young capybaras make which sound almost constantly, apparently to stay in touch with the herd?

A purr. Staying within earshot matters: the young are easy prey, and the herd's many watchful eyes are what keep them alive.

What happens to a capybara's heartbeat when it dives?

It slows down. The same diving reflex seen in seals and in people saves oxygen for the brain and heart while the animal holds its breath.

Where does a female capybara give birth?

On land, with no nest. The young can stand and walk almost at once, so there is nothing to hide them in and the family simply moves on.

How do capybaras spend the hot early afternoon?

In the water keeping cool. Big bodies shed heat slowly, so a capybara caught in the open through the hottest hours would risk heat stress.

Which capybaras, as a class, achieve more matings than each dominant male?

Subordinate males. No boss can guard every female at once, and because males rise through the ranks in an orderly queue, many never reach the top at all.

Young capybaras take milk from whom?

Any nursing female in the group. Capybaras share the work of raising young, so babies also get lookouts and minders from across the herd.

Which birds, better known for trailing grazing livestock, also perch on capybaras to snap up insects?

Egrets. A grazing capybara stirs up insects with every step, so the birds ride along or walk beside it and take whatever it flushes out.

Capybaras bring swallowed food back up to chew it again, mostly while doing what?

Resting. The second chew, like a cow's cud, helps break down tough grass, though a capybara has a simple stomach and ferments its food further down the gut.