the largest living rodent, a semiaquatic mammal of Central and South America. The capybara is the sole member of the family Hydrochoeridae, but it resembles the cavy and guinea pig of the family Caviidae.

South American capybaras may be 1.25 metres (4 feet) long and weigh 66 kg (145 pounds) or more; Panamanian capybaras are smaller and weigh about 27 kg. Capybaras are short-haired, brownish rodents, with blunt snouts, short legs, small ears, and almost no tail. They are shy and associate in groups along the banks of lakes and rivers. They normally feed in the morning and evening and spend most of the day resting under cover along the banks. They are vegetarian and in cultivated areas sometimes become pests by eating melons, grain, and squash. They swim and dive readily and commonly enter water to elude predators such as jaguars (jaguar) and anacondas (anaconda). Capybaras are edible and in Venezuela are ranched for meat. The female bears a single litter of three to eight young each year; gestation takes about 100 to 110 days.