Capybara

Open encyclopedia reference

The capybara ( kap-ih-BAR-uh) or greater capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest living rodent, native to all countries in South America except Chile. It is a semiaquatic herbivore that inhabits savannas and dense forests, living near and in bodies of freshwater and feeding mainly on grasses and aquatic plants.

Together with the lesser capybara, it constitutes the genus Hydrochoerus. Its other close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria.

The capybara is a highly social species that usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals, but can be found in groups as large as 100. It is hunted for its meat and hide and for grease from its thick fatty skin.

Wikipedia contributors, Capybara; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:22:57.030423+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Common name

Capybara

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Caviidae

Genus

Hydrochoerus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderHystricomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. infraorderHystricognathi Brandt, 1855
14. familyCaviidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
15. subfamilyHydrochoerinae Gray, 1825
16. genusHydrochoerus Brisson, 1762
17. speciesHydrochoerus hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hydrochoerus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 17 records assigned to Caviidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=825303 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6MK7J. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.