Editing Capybara (section)

==Ecology==
[[File:Cattle tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) on Capybara.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cattle tyrant]] on a capybara]]

Capybaras are [[semiaquatic]] mammals<ref name="Palm Beach Zoo"/> found throughout all countries of South America except [[Chile]].<ref name="Bristol"/> They live in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, and marshes,<ref name="Smithsonian"/> as well as flooded savannah and along rivers in the tropical rainforest. They are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes at a time. Capybara have flourished in cattle ranches. They roam in home ranges averaging {{convert|10|ha|acre|abbr=off}} in high-density populations.<ref name=r4/>

Many escapees from captivity can also be found in similar watery habitats around the world. Sightings are fairly common in [[Florida]], although a breeding population has not yet been confirmed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/mammals/capybara/|title=Nonnatives – Capybara|website=myfwc.com|access-date=2013-08-30|archive-date=2014-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406221051/http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/mammals/capybara/}}</ref> In 2011, one specimen was spotted on the [[Central Coast (California)|Central Coast of California]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0818-capybara-20110818,0,104462.story|title=A gnawing question answered: It's a capybara roaming Paso Robles|last=Mather|first=Kate|date=18 August 2011|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=10 January 2012}}</ref> These escaped populations occur in areas where prehistoric capybaras inhabited; [[late Pleistocene]] capybaras inhabited Florida<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://bioone.org/journals/proceedings-of-the-academy-of-natural-sciences-of-philadelphia/volume-167/issue-1/053.167.0105/A-Late-Pleistocene-capybara-Rodentia-Caviidae-Hydrochoerinae-from-near-Houston/10.1635/053.167.0105.short|doi=10.1635/053.167.0105|title=A Late Pleistocene capybara (Rodentia, Caviidae, Hydrochoerinae) from near Houston, Texas, USA, with a brief review of North American fossil capybaras|year=2020|last1=Baskin|first1=Jon|last2=Gervais|first2=P. Darrow|last3=Gervais|first3=Camille J.|journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia|volume=167|page=57|s2cid=216241471}}</ref> and ''[[Hydrochoerus hesperotiganites]]'' in [[California]] and ''[[Hydrochoerus gaylordi]]'' in [[Grenada]], and feral capybaras in North America may actually fill the ecological niche of the Pleistocene species.<ref>Erick J. Lundgren, Daniel Ramp, John Rowan, Owen Middleton, Simon D. Schowanek, Oscar Sanisidro, Scott P. Carroll, Matt Davis, Christopher J. Sandom, Jens-Christian Svenning, Arian D. Wallach, James A. Estes, 2020, ''[https://www.pnas.org/content/117/14/7871 Introduced herbivores restore Late Pleistocene ecological functions]'', PNAS, 117 (14), pp.7871-7878, [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]</ref>

===Diet and predation===
[[File:Capybara Eating Hay 11 11 2018.jpg|thumb|A capybara eating hay at [[Franklin Park Zoo]], Boston, Massachusetts]]

Capybaras are [[herbivore]]s, grazing mainly on grasses and [[aquatic plants]],<ref name="Smithsonian"/><ref name="RevBiolTrop"/> as well as fruit and tree bark.<ref name="Palm Beach Zoo"/> They are very selective feeders<ref name="Quintana 1998"/> and feed on the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it. They eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season, as fewer plants are available. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season.<ref name="Barreto 1998"/> Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter, so they are not consumed at that time.<ref name="Quintana 1998"/> The capybara's jaw hinge is not perpendicular, so they chew food by grinding back-and-forth rather than side-to-side.<ref name="SFZoo"/> Capybaras are [[coprophagous|autocoprophagous]],<ref name="taronga-zoo"/> meaning they eat their own feces as a source of bacterial [[gut flora]], to help digest the [[cellulose]] in the grass that forms their normal diet, and to extract the maximum protein and vitamins from their food. They also regurgitate food to masticate again, similar to cud-chewing by cattle.<ref name="taronga-zoo">{{cite web |title=Meet Taronga's Capybaras |url=https://taronga.org.au/sydney-zoo/must-see/capybaras |website=Taronga Zoo |access-date=29 December 2021 |ref=taronga-zoo}}</ref><ref name="Lord-Rexford 1994"/> Like other rodents, a capybara's front teeth grow continually to compensate for the constant wear from eating grasses;<ref name="Bristol"/> their cheek teeth also grow continuously.<ref name="SFZoo"/> 

Like its relative the guinea pig, the capybara does not have the capacity to synthesize [[vitamin C]], and capybaras not supplemented with vitamin C in captivity have been reported to develop [[Periodontal disease|gum disease]] as a sign of [[scurvy]].<ref name=r2/>

The maximum lifespan of the capybara is 8 to 10 years,<ref name=r6/> but in the wild capybaras usually do not live longer than four years because of predation from South American [[big cats]] such as [[jaguar]]s and [[cougar]]s and from non-mammalian predators such as [[harpy eagle]]s, [[caiman]]s, [[Eunectes murinus|green anaconda]]s and [[piranha]]s.<ref name="Bristol"/><ref name="SoundsandColours"/>