Capybara Trivia
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This capybara trivia quiz has 61 free questions with answers about the world's largest rodent. It starts with the basics anyone who has watched a capybara video will know, such as where they live, how long they can stay underwater and why they sit so calmly in Japanese hot springs, and moves on to the biology that surprises people: sweat glands, a chromosome count, a scent gland on the snout, mating that only ever happens in water and the reason zoo capybaras need vitamin C. There are rounds on capybara culture too: the Tupi origin of the name, why Venezuelans eat capybara during Lent, the Don Toliver meme, the 2021 Nordelta 'invasion' that turned the animal into a symbol of class struggle in Argentina, and Muybridge's 1880s photographs of one walking. Fossil relatives get their turn, from a Caribbean island capybara to Josephoartigasia, a rodent the size of a bull. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and other reference pages, and each question shows its source once you have answered, so this works as well for a classroom or zoo-trip quiz as it does for settling an argument in a group chat.
30 of 61 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which is the only country in South America with no native capybaras?
Chile
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.
Q 02The word 'capybara' comes from which indigenous South American language?
Tupi
Tupi. Spoken along South America's Atlantic coast when the Portuguese arrived, it also gave English the animal names jaguar, piranha and tapir.
Q 03In which animated film does a cat ride out a great flood on a boat with a capybara?
Flow
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.
Q 04The genus name Hydrochoerus is built from Greek words meaning what?
Water pig
Water pig. Linnaeus himself classed the animal with the pigs in 1766, naming it Sus hydrochaeris.
Q 05Molecular studies show the capybara's closest living relatives are which small South American rodents?
Rock cavies
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.
Q 06How does the IUCN Red List classify the capybara?
Least concern
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.
Q 07Unlike most rodents, an adult capybara has almost no what?
Tail
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.
Q 08The heaviest wild capybara on record weighed about how much?
91 kg
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.
Q 09Which naturalist, visiting South America in the 1830s, called the capybara 'the largest gnawing animal in the world'?
Charles Darwin
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.
Q 10Compared with adult males, adult female capybaras are typically what?
Slightly heavier
Slightly heavier. Even so, each capybara group is led by a dominant male, whose position can go unchallenged for years.
Q 11A capybara has 66 chromosomes, 20 more than which species?
Humans
Humans. People make do with 46 chromosomes to the capybara's 66, yet both are outdone by dogs and chickens, which carry 78 apiece.
Q 12Escaped capybaras are sighted fairly often in which US state?
Florida
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.
Q 13Capybaras are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to how long?
Five minutes
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.
Q 21The 'morrillo' is a capybara scent gland found where on the body?
On the snout
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.
Q 22How does a female capybara let males know she is in estrus?
By whistling
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.
Q 23Where do capybaras mate?
Only in water
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.
Q 14When do capybaras do most of their grazing?
Late afternoon into the night
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.
Q 15Where in a capybara herd does the dominant male usually sit?
In the centre
In the centre. Rank decides the seating plan: the biggest male takes the middle, and his hold on the spot can last for years.
Q 16Capybaras found living on their own are usually what?
Males driven from a herd
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.
Q 17To keep their grass-digesting gut bacteria topped up, capybaras regularly do what?
Eat their own droppings
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.
Q 18Like guinea pigs and humans, capybaras cannot synthesize which nutrient, so zoo diets must supply it?
Vitamin C
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.
Q 19Which snake is a notable predator of capybaras?
Green anaconda
Green anaconda. The world's heaviest snake hunts in the very shallows where capybaras wallow, and it is mostly the young that it takes.
Q 20Capybara herds can swell to a hundred or more during which time of year?
Dry season
Dry season. As ponds and streams shrink, separate herds crowd around whatever water is left, then split up again once the rains return.
Q 24What is a baby capybara called?
A pup
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.
Q 25Newborn capybaras can start eating grass within roughly how long?
A week
A week. Capybaras are born remarkably advanced, yet they go on taking milk for months after their first mouthfuls of grass.
Q 26Which dog-like sound do capybaras make when threatened?
Barks
Barks. One sharp bark from a lookout is often enough to send the whole herd stampeding for the nearest river or pond.
Q 27Zookeepers in Japan made capybaras their stars for 2020 because it was which animal's year in the Chinese zodiac?
Rat
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.
Q 28Petting capybaras is discouraged because their ticks can carry which disease?
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
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.
Q 29In 2016, two capybaras nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde spent weeks on the run from a zoo in which Canadian city?
Toronto
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.
Q 30In Venezuela, capybara meat is traditionally popular during which part of the Christian calendar?
Lent
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.