Capybara (Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris) [Chester Zoo, Chester, Cheshire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe]. .
Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), also known as Capibara, Chigüiro and Carpincho in Spanish, and Capivara in Portuguese is the largest living rodent in the world. It is related to agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs. Its common name, derived from Kapiÿva in the Guarani language, means "master of the grasses" while its scientific name, hydrochaeris, is Greek for "water hog". Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Adult capybaras may grow to 130 centimetres ( ft), and weigh up to 65 kg (140 lb). Capybaras have slightly webbed feet, no tail, and 20 teeth. Their back legs are slightly longer than their front legs and their muzzles are blunt with eyes, nostrils, and ears on top of their head. Females are slightly heavier than males. Though now extinct, there once existed larger capybaras that were eight times the size of modern capybaras (these rodents would have been larger than a grizzly bear). There is also a "lesser capybara", Hydrochoerus isthmius. Capybaras reach sexual maturity within 22 months and breed when conditions are perfect, which can be once per year (such as in Brazil) or throughout the year (such as in Venezuela and Colombia). The male pursues a female and mounts when the female stops in water. Capybara gestation is 130–150 days and usually produces a litter of four capybara babies, but may produce between two and eight in a single litter. Birth is on land and the female will rejoin the group within a few hours of delivering the newborn capybaras, who will join the group as soon as they are mobile. Within a week the young can eat grass, but will continue to suckle - from any female in the group - until weaned at about 16 weeks. Youngsters will form a group within the main group. The rainy season of April and May mark the peak breeding season. This photograph is part of the Imagine Images Collection, hosted by Alamy.
Size: 5160px × 3440px
Location: Chester Zoo, Chester, Cheshire, England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Europe. .
Photo credit: © Al Pidgen / Imagine Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., agouti, amazing, animal, animals, astonishing, attraction, attractive, beautiful, behaviour, brazil, breathtaking, breeding, brilliant, brown, cage, capibara, capivara, captive, captivity, capybara, capybaras, carpincho, centre, chester, chiguiro, chigüiro, chinchillas, collec, collection, colombia, colony, conservation, conservational, coyphillas, dazzling, distinctive, dramatic, ecological, ecology, education, educational, elegant, enclosure, endangered, ethology, exceptional, exhibit, exotic, extraordinary, extravagant, fabulous, fantastic, feet, fur, furry, garden, gardens, global, glowing, good, gorgeous, grand, grass, grasses, great, guinea, heavy, hog, hydrochaeris, hydrochoerus, image, images, imagine, impressive, incredible, indigenous, interesting, kapiyva, kapiÿva, large, largest, laying, life, lovely, magnificent, marvellous, master, muzzles, natural, nature, park, photo, photograph, photography, pig, pigs, preservation, pretty, quality, rare, recreation, red, remarkable, research, rodent, sensational, species, spectacular, splendid, striking, study, stunning, superb, taxonomy, threatened, tourism, tourist, tremendous, unbelievable, unique, unusual, venezuela, vibrant, visitor, visitors, vivid, water, webbed, wild, wildlife, wonderful, world, zoo, zoological
