Editing Capybara (section)

==Social organization==
[[File:Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) alpha male.JPG|thumb|right|Capybaras have a scent gland on their noses.]]

Capybaras are known to be [[gregarious]]. While they sometimes live solitarily, they are more commonly found in groups of around 10–20 individuals, with two to four adult males, four to seven adult females, and the remainder juveniles.<ref name="Alho 1987"/> Capybara groups can consist of as many as 50 or 100 individuals during the dry season<ref name="Lord-Rexford 1994"/><ref name="Macdonald 1981"/> when the animals gather around available water sources. Males establish social bonds, dominance, or general group consensus.<ref name="Macdonald 1981"/> They can make dog-like barks<ref name="Lord-Rexford 1994"/> when threatened or when females are herding young.<ref name="Murphey 1985"/>

Capybaras have two types of [[scent gland]]s: a morrillo, located on the snout, and [[anal gland]]s. Both sexes have these glands, but males have much larger morrillos and use their anal glands more frequently. The anal glands of males are also lined with detachable hairs. A crystalline form of scent secretion is coated on these hairs and is released when in contact with objects such as plants. These hairs have a longer-lasting scent mark and are tasted by other capybaras. Capybaras scent-mark by rubbing their morrillos on objects, or by walking over scrub and marking it with their anal glands. Capybaras can spread their scent farther by urinating; however, females usually mark without urinating and scent-mark less frequently than males overall. Females mark more often during the wet season when they are in [[estrus]]. In addition to objects, males also scent-mark females.<ref name="Macdonald 1984"/>

===Reproduction===
[[File:Young capybaras.jpg|thumb|left|Mother with typical litter of about four pups]]
When in [[estrus]], the female's scent changes subtly and nearby males begin pursuit.<ref name="Herrera 1993">{{cite journal|doi=10.1093/beheco/4.2.114|title= Aggression, dominance, and mating success among capybara males (''Hydrochaeris hypdrochaeris'')|year=1993|last1=Herrera|first1=Emilio A.|last2=MacDonald|first2=David W.|journal=[[Behavioral Ecology (journal)|Behavioral Ecology]]|volume=4|issue=2|page=114}}</ref> In addition, a female alerts males she is in estrus by whistling through her nose.<ref name="Lord-Rexford 1994"/> During mating, the female has the advantage and mating choice. Capybaras mate only in water, and if a female does not want to mate with a certain male, she either submerges or leaves the water.<ref name="Lord-Rexford 1994"/><ref name="Macdonald 1981"/> Dominant males are highly protective of the females, but they usually cannot prevent some of the subordinates from copulating. The larger the group, the harder it is for the male to watch all the females. Dominant males secure significantly more matings than each subordinate, but subordinate males, as a class, are responsible for more matings than each dominant male.<ref name="Herrera 1993"/> The lifespan of the capybara's sperm is longer than that of other rodents.<ref name=r1/> Capybara [[gestation]] is 130–150 days, and produces a litter of four young on average, but may produce between one and eight in a single litter.<ref name=r4/> Birth is on land and the female rejoins the group within a few hours of delivering the newborn capybaras, which join the group as soon as they are mobile. Within a week, the young can eat grass, but continue to suckle—from any female in the group—until weaned around 16 weeks. The young form a group within the main group.<ref name="Bristol"/> [[Alloparenting]] has been observed in this species.<ref name="Macdonald 1981"/> Breeding peaks between April and May in Venezuela and between October and November in [[Mato Grosso]], Brazil.<ref name=r4/>

===Activities===
Though quite agile on land, capybaras are equally at home in the water. They are excellent swimmers, and can remain completely submerged for up to five minutes,<ref name="Smithsonian"/> an ability they use to evade predators. Capybaras can sleep in water, keeping only their noses out. As temperatures increase during the day, they wallow in water and then graze during the late afternoon and early evening.<ref name=r4/> They also spend time wallowing in mud.<ref name="enchantedlearning.com"/> They rest around midnight and then continue to graze before dawn.<ref name="r4" />

===Communication===
Capybaras communicate using barks, chirps, whistles, huffs, and purrs.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/animals/capybara | title=Capybara }}</ref>

[[File:Capybara Ueno Zoo 2009.ogv|thumb|A capybara in captivity, 2009]]