Capybaras are the world’s largest living rodent and can stand up to two feet high, grow over three feet long, weigh between 75-150 pounds.

Capybaras are semi-aquatic as they spend time on land and in the water. Their webbed feet make it easy to navigate in the water, while their coarse fur allows them to dry off quickly.

Capybaras have developed many traits that allow them to excel in water. Their eyes, ears, and nostrils are on the tops of their heads allowing them to see, hear, and smell underwater! Not only can they hold their breath for up to five minutes, but they can sleep underwater with their nose just above the water’s surface.

Capybaras reside in the wetter parts of Central and South America. They are usually found in savannas and dense forests with a nearby body of water.

Like most rodents, the capybara’s teeth will continuously grow their whole lives. However, their ravenous diet keeps their teeth worn down. In fact, capybaras eat about 6.5 pounds of grass a day! Besides grass, they will also eat fruit and tree bark. Capybaras are usually selective eaters, eating some grass and ignoring other species around it. Their diets become more extensive in the dry season as there is fewer options available.

Dominant males are protective of their females, but females can still reproduce with the subordinate males of the group. A pregnant female will give birth to a litter of 1-8 pups after about five months. Capybaras practice alloparenting, which means females that are not biological mothers of the pups will nurse and care for them as their own.

The capybara has a lot of predators such as jaguars, eagles, piranha, pumas, and ocelots. If a capybara senses danger, it will bark at intruders to alarm them and tell other capybaras to run or jump into nearby rivers. If the group is attacked, they will form a defensive huddle with young capybaras in the center.

There hasn’t been a definitive reason that so many animals in the animal kingdom get along with capybaras. Scientists believe that besides the capybara being so easy-going, it’s because capybaras are naturally social animals. Some can also have symbiotic relationships with capybaras such as birds eating the bugs out of a capybara’s fur while the capybara gets clean.