The genus ''Hydrochoerus'' contains two living and two extinct species of rodents from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, the Caribbean island of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Capybaras are the largest living rodents in the world. The genus name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

ὕδωρ (''hýdor'', water) plus χοίρος (''choíros'', pig).

Characteristics

Capybaras are

semiaquatic In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below. Semiaquatic animals Semiaquatic animals include: * Verte ...

, found in and near lakes, rivers, swamps, and flooded savanna. Their diets are dominated by grasses. Adults weigh up to . The

gestation period In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...

is 130–150 days, with two to eight (most commonly four) young born to females.

Behavior

Capybaras are highly social, living in groups of up to 100 and communicating through a variety of vocalizations.Rowe and Honeycutt, 2002 Breeding is

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

, with males forming

harems Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

Phylogeny and taxonomy

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

results have consistently suggested ''Hydrochoerus'' is most closely related to ''

Kerodon The genus ''Kerodon'' (vernacular name Mocos; Rock Cavies) contains two species of South American rock cavies, related to capybaras and guinea pigs. They are found in semiarid regions of northeast Brazil known as the Caatinga. This area has a ro ...

'' (the rock cavies), and the two evolved from within the

Caviidae Caviidae, the cavy family, is composed of rodents native to South America and includes the domestic guinea pig, wild cavies, and the largest living rodent, the capybara. They are found across South America in open areas from moist savanna to th ...

. This led Woods and Kilpatrick to unite the two into the subfamily

Hydrochoerinae Hydrochoerinae is a subfamily of Caviidae, consisting of two living genera, ''Hydrochoerus'', the capybaras, and ''Kerodon'', the rock cavies. In addition, a number of extinct genera related to capybaras should also be placed in this subfamily. T ...

within the Caviidae. Based on use of a

molecular clock The molecular clock is a figurative term for a technique that uses the mutation rate of biomolecules to deduce the time in prehistory when two or more life forms diverged. The biomolecular data used for such calculations are usually nucleoti ...

approach, ''Hydrochoerus'' appears to have diverged from ''Kerodon'' in the late Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

(about 12 million years ago). The extinct North American species formerly recognized as ''

Hydrochoerus holmesi ''Neochoerus aesopi'' was a relatively large rodent species native to North America until their extinction about 12,000 years ago, being closely related to modern capybaras (genus ''Hydrochoerus''). It was part of the subfamily ''Hydrochoerina ...

'' is now assigned to ''

Neochoerus ''Neochoerus'' ("new hog") is an extinct genus of rodent closely related to the living capybara. Fossil remains of ''Neochoerus'' have been found through North America (México and United States) and South America in Boyacá, Colombia C ...

''.

Species

Extant Species

Fossils

* † ''

Hydrochoerus ballesterensis The genus ''Hydrochoerus'' contains two living and two extinct species of rodents from South America, the Caribbean island of Grenada, California and Panama. Capybaras are the largest living rodents in the world. The genus name is derived from t ...

'' –

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58''Hydrochoerus ballesterensis''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org * † ''

Hydrochoerus gaylordi ''Hydrochoerus gaylordi'' (named after American political consultant Joseph Gaylord) is an extinct species of capybara that lived in Grenada during the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. This species was found in 1991 by Ronald Singer and h ...

'' – Plio-

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

capybara endemic to the Caribbean island of

''Hydrochoerus gaylordi''
at

.org * † '' Hydrochoerus hesperotiganites'' –

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...

capybara endemic to North America (San Diegeo County, California)

Distribution

Presently, capybaras live in northern South America and adjacent southern Central America (lesser capybara) and in the tropical to subtropical regions of South America (capybara). The fossil species inhabited

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

in Argentina (''H. ballesterensis'') and the Caribbean island of

(''H. gaylordi''). One species, ''H. hesperotiganites'' even ranged as far north as California. Fossils of unspecified ''Hydrochoerus'' have been found in

to Holocene sediments of

Curití Curiti is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in North-Eastern Colombia. The area is famous for crafts made from fique, or agave sisal. Curiti is the birthplace of Alejandro Galvis Galvis, a renowned politician and publisher. Ref ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, at an altitude of in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Fauna found at the same site included the

South American tapir The South American tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi ''tapi'ira''), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, the ''anta'' (Portuguese), and ''la sachavaca'' (literally "bushco ...

(''Tapirus terrestris''), ''

Cryptotis The genus ''Cryptotis'' is a group of relatively small shrews with short ears, which are usually not visible, and short tails, commonly called small-eared shrews. They have 30 teeth and are members of the red-toothed shrew subfamily. Since 1992, ...

'' sp.,

collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Tayassuidae found in North, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Dicotyles''. They are commonly referred to as ' ...

(''Tayassu tajacu''),

white-lipped peccary The white-lipped peccary (''Tayassu pecari'') is a species of peccary found in Central America, Central and South America and the only member of the genus ''Tayassu''. Multiple subspecies have been identified. White-lipped peccaries are similar ...

(''Tayassu pecari''), and '' Mazama'' sp.Curití, Santander
at

.orgHoffstetter, 1971, p.54

References

Bibliography

* *