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Capybara

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The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent.[1][2][3] It is a semi-aquatic animal of South America and depends on water for feeding, for keeping cool and for escaping predators.[4][5]

Classification

The genus Hydrochoerus contains two species: the capybara and the smaller lesser capybara (H. isthmius). Fossils of the genus are known from the Pleistocene of North and South America.[1] The lesser capybara is less than a metre long and lives in Panama, western Colombia and north-western Venezuela.[6] The capybara's closest living relatives are the rock cavies (Kerodon). The two lines split in the middle Miocene, between about 8 and 12.28 million years ago.[1]

The capybara was first described and illustrated by Georg Marcgraf in 1648, and Linnaeus based his name Sus hydrochaeris on that account.[7] The genus name Hydrochoerus was published by Brisson in 1762. In 1998 the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that Brisson's names were valid, despite an objection that his work did not use two-part names consistently.[8]

Description

Capybaras measure 100 to 130 cm from head to rump, weigh 27 to 79 kg, and have only a vestigial tail. The coat is sparse, long and coarse, reddish brown to greyish above and yellowish brown below. The forefeet have four toes and the hind feet three, and the toes are partly webbed. Its eyes, ears and nostrils sit high on the head, which suits a life partly spent in water.[3] The cheek teeth grow throughout life, and the third molar is longer than the other three cheek teeth combined.[1] Adult males have a large scent gland on the snout, called the morrillo, which is used to tell the sexes apart in the field.[9]

Distribution and habitat

The capybara lives east of the Andes, from eastern Colombia and Venezuela through the Guianas, Ecuador and Peru, and south through Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay to Argentina and Uruguay. It lives in lowland wet habitats such as forested riverbanks, mangrove swamps and brackish wetlands. It is active by day and eats grasses, sedges and water plants.[7] Grasses make up about 70 per cent of its diet.[10]

Social life

Capybaras live in herds of 2 to 30 led by a dominant male. In droughts up to about 100 may gather at waterholes.[7] Stable groups contain about 6 to 16 adults and their young, often with more females than males.[11] In the Venezuelan Llanos, groups of 4 to 16 adults were recorded. They were made up of a dominant male, one or more probably related females, young and subordinate males.[12][13] Groups grow larger as the land dries and the animals crowd around the remaining water.[14] In the wet season groups defend water against other groups, but this territorial behaviour relaxes when pools become scarce.[4] Animals at the edge of a group spend more time watching for danger, and adults may form a ring around the young to defend them from predators such as feral dogs.[15][16] Females sometimes carry other group members' young on their backs while swimming away from danger.[11]

Capybaras are mostly polygynous or promiscuous, but in the forests of the Peruvian Amazon, where they are scarce, they live in pairs or occasional trios.[9] Infanticide has been recorded in the wild.[17] One review concludes that the abundance of resources, more than the risk of predation, seems to be the main driver of capybara social life.[18]

Breeding

Capybaras breed all year round, with more mating at the start of the rains. Pregnancy lasts 150 days[3], and litters contain one to seven young, with an average of four in Venezuela.[7] This is among the largest litter sizes for hystricognath rodents. Females are fertile all year, with seasonal peaks.[19][10]

Status

Animal Diversity Web lists the capybara as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Patton, James L.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.; D'Elía, Guillermo, eds. (2015). Mammals of South America. Vol. 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. p. 720. ISBN 9780226169606.
  2. ↑ Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 31. ISBN 9781118846520.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Frens, K. (2009). "Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 178. ISBN 9781118846520.
  5. ↑ Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 402. ISBN 9780226905365.
  6. ↑ Patton, James L.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.; D'Elía, Guillermo, eds. (2015). Mammals of South America. Vol. 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. p. 723. ISBN 9780226169606.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Patton, James L.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.; D'Elía, Guillermo, eds. (2015). Mammals of South America. Vol. 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. p. 722. ISBN 9780226169606.
  8. ↑ Patton, James L.; Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J.; D'Elía, Guillermo, eds. (2015). Mammals of South America. Vol. 2: Rodents. University of Chicago Press. p. 721. ISBN 9780226169606.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 261. ISBN 9781118846520.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 399. ISBN 9780226905365.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 241. ISBN 9781118846520.
  12. ↑ Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 394. ISBN 9780226905365.
  13. ↑ Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 396. ISBN 9780226905365.
  14. ↑ Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 42. ISBN 9781118846520.
  15. ↑ Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 180. ISBN 9781118846520.
  16. ↑ Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 397. ISBN 9780226905365.
  17. ↑ Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 289. ISBN 9781118846520.
  18. ↑ Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hayes, Loren D., eds. (2016). Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents: An Integrative Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 185. ISBN 9781118846520.
  19. ↑ Macdonald, David W.; Herrera, Emilio A.; Taber, Andrew B.; Moreira, José Roberto (2007). "Social Organization and Resource Use in Capybaras and Maras". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 398. ISBN 9780226905365.
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