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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
General Introduction
Feeding Behavior
What and how much do capybaras eat?
How does this change throughout the year?
Nutritional Ecology Classifications
Continuous feeders
Herbivores
Grazer
Digestive Anatomy
General Introduction
Capybaras are part of the caviidae family, also known as the cavy family. This means they are closely related to guinea pigs! They can weigh up to 150 lbs making them the largest rodents. Capybaras are indigenous to South America and can be found near marshes, lakes, ponds, and grasslands (J.R. Moreira et al. 2013). The capybara is semi-aquatic and they utilize their webbed toes to swiftly swim away from danger such as jaguars and caiman. Capybaras are annually polyestrous and typically give birth to four pups at once, twice a year. They have, however, been shown to be able to give birth to up to 16 pups in a single year (Martin R. Alvarez, Fernando O. Kravetz 2006). They are most active at dusk and at night, making them crepuscular.
This video details the feeding and social behavior of capybaras.
Capybaras are territorial and have distinct social groups.
Capybaras chirp and whistle to communicate with each other and warn each other of dangers.
Their teeth are constantly growing teeth to account for the wear and tear they experience every day.
🍉 Feeding Behaviors 🍉
What do they eat?
Capybaras consume a diet of fresh grass, reeds, grains, melons, and squashes. They can eat up to 8 pounds of grass per day!
To achieve these dietary needs during the wet season, capybaras spend 31% of their time grazing and 42% of their time in the dry season. This is because there are fewer options when the land is dry so they spend more time grazing to compensate (Barreto, Quintana 2012).
Poop is another important facet of a capybara's diet. Capybaras are coprophages, meaning they eat their own poop to absorb any nutrients that they couldn't the first time around (Matta 2023).
Newborn capybaras can begin grazing at only a few hours old (Martin R. Alvarez, Fernando O. Kravetz 2006).
🌱 Nutritional Ecology 🌱
Continuous Feeders
Capybaras are continuous feeders meaning they consume low-quality food that is dispersed among a large area.
Herbivorous
Capybaras only consume vegetation like bananas, melons, squashes, and corn, making them herbivores. (San Diego Zoo)
Grazers
Capybaras are selective grazers and consume roughly 6 pounds of grass a day. (San Diego Zoo)
↑ How Do These Three Categories Connect? ↑
↑ How Do These Three Categories Connect? ↑
These categories connect because being herbivorous allows them to constantly have a food source to consume, grass, allowing them to continuously graze. Their specialized molars allow them to grind down food nearly as efficiently as bovids. (Barreto, Quintana 2012)
Digestive Anatomy
Their cecum are large and complex, having many folds and pockets, to allow for the absorption of cellulolytic material.
During the dry season, when the quality of food declines, the capybara adapts by increasing the weight and surface area of its small intestine and cecum in order to more efficiently absorb the nutrients from the lower-quality food. This fascinating adaptation is part of what makes capybaras such efficient grazers (Barreto, Quintana 2012).
Capybaras are hindgut fermenters, specifically cecal digesters.
This means that their fermentative capacity is located within the first portion of their large intestines, the cecum as shown by the diagram above.
*The nutritional ecology of a capybara relates to its feeding behavior because their highly specialized digestive systems allow them to gain the nutrition they need from their herbivorous diet of grass, grains, and melons. Without an enlarged cecum, they would not be able to exploit the food sources that are available in the marshes, lakes, ponds, and grasslands in which they reside. *
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