Barreto, Guillermo R.; Herrera, Emilio A. (1998). "Foraging patterns of capybaras in a seasonally flooded savanna of Venezuela". Journal of Tropical Ecology. 14 (1): 87–98. doi: 10.1017/S0266467498000078. JSTOR 2559868. S2CID 84982123. As opposed to most rodents, capybaras cannot hold food in their front feet when feeding. They are known to sit on their haunches in a dog-like position.

Alho, Cleber J.R.; Rondon, Nelson L. (1987). "Habitats, population densities, and social structure of capybaras ( Hydrochaeris Hydrochaeris, Rodentia) in the Pantanal, Brazil". Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 4 (2): 139–149. doi: 10.1590/s0101-81751987000200006. Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros; Bonach, Kelly; Verdade, Luciano Martins (2005). "Relationship between body mass and body length in capybaras ( Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)". Biota Neotropica. 5 (1): 197–200. doi: 10.1590/S1676-06032005000100020. Paula, T.A.R.; Chiarini-Garcia, H.; França, L.R. (June 1999). "Seminiferous epithelium cycle and its duration in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)". Tissue and Cell. 31 (3): 327–334. doi: 10.1054/tice.1999.0039. PMID 10481304.

Breeding and population

Capybaras are known to be gregarious. While they sometimes live solitarily, they are more commonly found in groups of around 10–20 individuals, with two to four adult males, four to seven adult females, and the remainder juveniles. [33] Capybara groups can consist of as many as 50 or 100 individuals during the dry season [29] [34] when the animals gather around available water sources. Males establish social bonds, dominance, or general group consensus. [34] They can make dog-like barks [29] when threatened or when females are herding young. [35] Its common name is derived from Tupi ka'apiûara code: tpw is deprecated , a complex agglutination of kaá code: tpw is deprecated (leaf) + píi code: tpw is deprecated (slender) + ú code: tpw is deprecated (eat) + ara code: tpw is deprecated (a suffix for agent nouns), meaning "one who eats slender leaves", or "grass-eater". [4] The scientific name, both hydrochoerus and hydrochaeris, comes from Greek ὕδωρ ( hydor "water") and χοῖρος ( choiros "pig, hog"). [5] [6] Classification and phylogeny

Paleontological classifications previously used Hydrochoeridae for all capybaras, while using Hydrochoerinae for the living genus and its closest fossil relatives, such as Neochoerus, [9] [10] but more recently have adopted the classification of Hydrochoerinae within Caviidae. [11] The taxonomy of fossil hydrochoerines is also in a state of flux. In recent years, the diversity of fossil hydrochoerines has been substantially reduced. [9] [10] This is largely due to the recognition that capybara molar teeth show strong variation in shape over the life of an individual. [9] In one instance, material once referred to four genera and seven species on the basis of differences in molar shape is now thought to represent differently aged individuals of a single species, Cardiatherium paranense. [9]

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Capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris". San Diego Zoo. October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011 . Retrieved 22 June 2011. Though quite agile on land, capybaras are equally at home in the water. They are excellent swimmers, and can remain completely submerged for up to five minutes, [14] an ability they use to evade predators. Capybaras can sleep in water, keeping only their noses out. As temperatures increase during the day, they wallow in water and then graze during the late afternoon and early evening. [7] They also spend time wallowing in mud. [18] They rest around midnight and then continue to graze before dawn. [7] A capybara in captivity, 2009 Conservation and human interaction Capybara, the master of the grasses: pest or prey Sounds and Colours. Retrieved on January 23, 2011. The Cabybara – 10 Facts About the World's Largest Rodent". WorldAtlas. 26 July 2019 . Retrieved 18 March 2020. Rowe, Diane L.; Honeycutt, Rodney L. (March 2002). "Phylogenetic Relationships, Ecological Correlates, and Molecular Evolution Within the Cavioidea (Mammalia, Rodentia)". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 19 (3): 263–277. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004080. PMID 11861886.

Ferreira, A. B. H. (1986) Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, 2nd ed., Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, p.344a b c Cerdeño, E.; Pérez, M.E.; Deschamps, C.M.; Contreras, V.H. (2019). "A new capybara from the late Miocene of San Juan Province, Argentina, and its phylogenetic implications". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 64 (1): 199–212. doi: 10.4202/app.00544.2018. a b Quintana, R.D.; Monge, S.; Malvárez, A.I. (1998). "Feeding patterns of capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris (Rodentia, Hydrochaeridae) and cattle in the non-insular area of the Lower Delta of the Paraná River, Argentina". Mammalia. 62 (1): 37–52. doi: 10.1515/mamm.1998.62.1.37. S2CID 83976640. Many escapees from captivity can also be found in similar watery habitats around the world. Sightings are fairly common in Florida, although a breeding population has not yet been confirmed. [20] In 2011, one specimen was spotted on the Central Coast of California. [21] These escaped populations occur in areas where prehistoric capybaras inhabited; late Pleistocene capybaras inhabited Florida [22] and Hydrochoerus hesperotiganites in California and Hydrochoerus gaylordi in Grenada, and feral capybaras in North America may actually fill the ecological niche of the Pleistocene species. [23] Diet and predation A capybara eating hay at Franklin Park Zoo, Boston, Massachusetts When in estrus, the female's scent changes subtly and nearby males begin pursuit. [37] In addition, a female alerts males she is in estrus by whistling through her nose. [29] During mating, the female has the advantage and mating choice. Capybaras mate only in water, and if a female does not want to mate with a certain male, she either submerges or leaves the water. [29] [34] Dominant males are highly protective of the females, but they usually cannot prevent some of the subordinates from copulating. [37] The larger the group, the harder it is for the male to watch all the females. Dominant males secure significantly more matings than each subordinate, but subordinate males, as a class, are responsible for more matings than each dominant male. [37] The lifespan of the capybara's sperm is longer than that of other rodents. [38] Mother and three pups