Animal Behavior & Nutrition

On this website, we have collaboratively chosen 4 different species of interest. Each of these animals has their own unique dietary, ecological, and digestive quirks and habits. Here, we have created a fun and interactive way of learning about these distinctive creatures.

Click on a photo to learn more about these unique animals!

Capybara

Kangaroo Rat

Raccoon

Otter

Nutritional Similarities

Hindgut Fermenters

While these four animals have different diets, they are all hindgut fermenters.
Capybaras and Kangaroo Rats are Cecal digestors.
Raccoons and Otters are unsacculated colonic digestors.
This similarity points to the fact that these animals' diets do not only consist of grass and are either supplemented by higher quality vegetation, like melons or seeds, or they do not consume grass at all, like otters and raccoons.
They all have monogastric stomachs, unlike ruminants.

Altricial Development

All of these animals require nourishment from their parents as babies
Otters and capybaras are milk fed for the first 5-6 months of their lives
Raccoons and kangaroo rats are born blind and mute for the first 3 weeks of their lives and solely consume their mother's milk
The milk provides antibodies and nutrients to protect and help the animals develop

Nutritional Differences

Continuous vs Discontinuous Feeders

The Kangaroo Rat and the Capybara are continuous feeders. They're herbivores that graze and forage for their low-quality foodstuff.
The Raccoon and Otter are discontinuous feeders. They're an omnivore and a carnivore respectively that scavenge and hunt for their high-quality foodstuff.
Continuous feeding is common in animals that can consume either/both low-quality foodstuff and foodstuff that are scattered in small quantities across large areas.
Discontinuous feeders are meal eaters and this is common in animals that consume either/both high-quality foodstuff and foodstuff that are commonly available in bulk.

Dental Anatomy

The capybara and kangaroo rat both do not have canine teeth meaning that there is a gap between their incisors and molars. However, the raccoon and otter both need their canines in order to rip and pull apart flesh.
The top left skull is an otter and the longest teeth are its canines as well as the bottom left in which you can see the raccoon's canines
The top right skull is a capybara which shows that their incisors are the largest similar to the kangaroo rat shown in the bottom right

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