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This capybara trivia quiz has 70 free questions with answers about the world's largest rodent. It starts with the basics anyone who has watched a capybara video will know, such as where they live, how long they can stay underwater and why they sit so calmly in Japanese hot springs, and moves on to the biology that surprises people: sweat glands, a chromosome count, a scent gland on the snout, mating that only ever happens in water and the reason zoo capybaras need vitamin C. There are rounds on capybara culture too: the Tupi origin of the name, why Venezuelans eat capybara during Lent, the Don Toliver meme, the 2021 Nordelta 'invasion' that turned the animal into a symbol of class struggle in Argentina, and Muybridge's 1880s photographs of one walking. Fossil relatives get their turn, from a Caribbean island capybara to Josephoartigasia, a rodent the size of a bull. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and other reference pages, and each question shows its source once you have answered, so this works as well for a classroom or zoo-trip quiz as it does for settling an argument in a group chat.
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Q 01The capybara is native to every country in South America except which one?
Chile
The Andes wall the animal off from the Pacific side of the continent. It ranges from the Caribbean coast down to northern Argentina.
Q 02The word 'capybara' comes from which indigenous South American language?
Tupi
Tupi was spoken along the Atlantic coast of South America and gave Portuguese, and then English, dozens of animal names, including jaguar, piranha and tapir.
Q 03Translated literally, the capybara's indigenous name means roughly what?
Grass-eater
The name is an agglutination of the words for leaf, slender, eat and an agent suffix, so it describes the animal by its diet.
Q 04The genus name Hydrochoerus is built from Greek words meaning what?
Water pig
The species name hydrochaeris adds a twist, pairing 'water' with a verb meaning to feel happy or enjoy.
Q 05Molecular studies show the capybara's closest living relatives are which small South American rodents?
Rock cavies
The two lineages diverged in the late Middle Miocene and now share the subfamily Hydrochoerinae within the guinea pig family.
Q 06Which feature, unusual among rodents, is found in the hairy parts of a capybara's skin?
Sweat glands
The coarse fur has no underhair, and there is no real distinction between guard hair and overhair.
Q 07Roughly how long is an adult capybara from nose to rump?
106 to 134 cm
They stand 50 to 62 cm at the shoulder, about the height of a large dog, but with a heavy, barrel-shaped body.
Q 08The heaviest wild capybara on record, a female, weighed about how much?
91 kg
That is about 201 pounds. The heaviest recorded wild male came in at 73.5 kg.
Q 09How many toes does a capybara have on each hind foot?
Three
The front feet carry four toes, and all the feet are slightly webbed for swimming.
Q 10Compared with adult males, adult female capybaras are typically what?
Slightly heavier
The typical adult range is 35 to 66 kg, with an average of about 49 kg in the Venezuelan Llanos.
Q 11How many chromosomes does a capybara have?
66
Its karyotype is written 2n = 66, FN = 102, meaning those 66 chromosomes have 102 arms between them.
Q 12Capybaras are lowland animals; the highest elevation one has been recorded at is about how high?
1,500 m
The record came from Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, a highland plateau in the cerrado savanna.
Q 13Escaped capybaras are sighted fairly often in which US state, though no breeding population is confirmed?
Florida
Late Pleistocene capybaras actually lived in the region, so feral animals may be filling an ancient niche. A capybara café in St. Augustine lets visitors scratch their heads.
Q 21Because of predators, wild capybaras usually live no longer than about how many years?
Four
The maximum lifespan is 8 to 10 years; jaguars, ocelots, cougars, eagles and caimans keep the average far lower.
Q 22Which snake is a notable predator of capybaras?
Green anaconda
Caimans and eagles also take capybaras, which is why the animals rarely stray far from water and dive at the first sign of danger.
Q 23During the dry season, capybara groups gathering around water can swell to as many as how many animals?
100
A normal group is 10 to 20, usually two to four adult males, four to seven adult females and their young.
Q 14Capybaras are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to how long?
Five minutes
They rest on dry land in the morning, then spend the hot early afternoon in the water to keep cool.
Q 15When do capybaras do most of their grazing?
Late afternoon and night
The midday heat is spent cooling off in the water, and grazing then runs on until the sun rises.
Q 16How large is the home range of a typical capybara group?
5 to 16 hectares
A range needs a permanent body of water, grassland to graze on and a patch of dry land for resting.
Q 17What share of wild capybaras were recaptured within 100 m of where they were marked two years earlier?
40%
Eighty percent were within a kilometre. Most capybaras simply do not migrate far.
Q 18Because its jaw hinge is not perpendicular, how does a capybara chew its food?
Grinding back and forth
Its front teeth and its cheek teeth both grow continuously to compensate for wear from all that grass.
Q 19Capybaras are 'autocoprophagous', which means they regularly do what?
Eat their own droppings
It replenishes gut bacteria that break down cellulose. They also regurgitate food to chew again, much like a cow chewing cud.
Q 20Like guinea pigs and humans, capybaras cannot synthesize which nutrient, so zoo diets must supply it?
Vitamin C
Captive capybaras that do not get it in their diet have been reported to develop gum disease as a sign of scurvy.
Q 24The 'morrillo' is a capybara scent gland found where on the body?
On the snout
Males have much larger morrillos than females and rub them on objects to mark territory. They also mark females themselves.
Q 25How does a female capybara let males know she is in estrus?
Whistling through her nose
Her scent also changes subtly, and once pursued, the female holds the advantage and makes the mating choice.
Q 26Where do capybaras mate?
Only in water
If a female does not want a particular male, she simply submerges or leaves the water. Births, though, happen on land.
Q 27How long is a capybara's gestation?
130 to 150 days
Litters range from one to eight pups. The mother rejoins the group within hours of giving birth.
Q 28What is the average size of a capybara litter?
Four
The pups form their own sub-group and will suckle from any female in the group, not just their mother.
Q 29Newborn capybaras can start eating grass within roughly how long?
A week
They keep suckling from any female in the group until they are weaned at around 16 weeks.
Q 30Which dog-like sound do capybaras make when threatened?
Barks
Their repertoire also includes chirps, huffs and purrs, used to keep the group in contact.