Capybara

Also known as greater capybara, true capybara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

The capybara or greater capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent, native to all countries in South America except Chile. It is a semiaquatic herbivore that inhabits savannas and dense forests, living near and in bodies of water and feeding mainly on grasses and aquatic plants.

OverviewAI-generated

The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a species within the genus Hydrochoerus. It is a viviparous animal with a crepuscular diel cycle. Common names for this taxon include capibara, kapybara, and Kapivar. The organism is found in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Its conservation status is listed as Least Concern.

Biological records indicate a mass of 48.9 and a gestation period of 150 days. Litter size averages 4, and the longest observed lifespan is 15.1 years. The species has been described in sources such as the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. A genome assembly is available at the provided DNA Zoo URL.

Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Least Concern

via IUCN

~14 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections

Contents

Etymology
Classification and phylogeny
Description
Ecology
Diet and predation
Social organization
Reproduction
Activities
Communication
Conservation and human interaction
In popular culture
See also
Notes
References
External links

Together with the lesser capybara, it constitutes the genus Hydrochoerus. Its other close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Capybara” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.