Q 01/05

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

A) Ecuador

B) Uruguay

C) Chile

D) Paraguay

Answer · why

C) 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...

Q 02/05

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

A) Tupi

B) Aymara

C) Quechua

D) Arawak

Answer · why

A) 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 03/05

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

A) Encanto

B) Puss in Boots

C) Robot Dreams

D) Flow

Answer · why

D) 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 04/05

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

A) Water pig

B) Marsh hare

C) Water horse

D) River rat

Answer · why

A) Water pig

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

Q 05/05

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

A) Chinchillas

B) Agoutis

C) Rock cavies

D) Nutrias

Answer · why

C) 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 fam...