It is hard to guess what a Capybara weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) on average weights 47.5 kg (104.72 lbs).
The Capybara is from the family Hydrochaeridae (genus: Hydrochaeris). It is usually born with about 1.5 kg (3.31 lbs). They can live for up to 12 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 1.22 meter (4′ 0″). On average, Capybaras can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 3.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a giant cavy rodent native to South America. It is the largest living rodent in the world. Also called capivara (in Brazil), chigüire, chigüiro (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru), it is a member of the genus Hydrochoerus, of which the only other extant member is the lesser capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius). Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu. The capybara inhabits savannas and dense forests and lives near bodies of water. It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals. The capybara is not a threatened species, but it is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin.
Animals with the same weight as a Capybara
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris:
- Bharal with a weight of 52.16 kilos (114.99 lbs)
- Queen of Sheba’s gazelle with a weight of 48.5 kilos (106.92 lbs)
- Harnessed bushbuck with a weight of 43.28 kilos (95.42 lbs)
- La Plata dolphin with a weight of 40.5 kilos (89.29 lbs)
- Soemmerring’s gazelle with a weight of 41 kilos (90.39 lbs)
- Vicuña with a weight of 47.5 kilos (104.72 lbs)
- Harbour porpoise with a weight of 52.72 kilos (116.23 lbs)
- Bornean orangutan with a weight of 52.97 kilos (116.78 lbs)
- Urial with a weight of 51.8 kilos (114.2 lbs)
- Abbott’s duiker with a weight of 56.68 kilos (124.96 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Capybara
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Capybara:
- Baikal seal with a size of 1.28 meter (4′ 3″)
- Bawean deer with a size of 1.38 meter (4′ 7″)
- Jentink’s duiker with a size of 1.35 meter (4′ 6″)
- White-lipped peccary with a size of 1.11 meter (3′ 8″)
- Roan antelope with a size of 1.15 meter (3′ 10″)
- Red goral with a size of 1.04 meter (3′ 5″)
- Striped hyena with a size of 1.11 meter (3′ 8″)
- Nilgiri tahr with a size of 1.39 meter (4′ 7″)
- Oribi with a size of 1.16 meter (3′ 10″)
- Spotted hyena with a size of 1.3 meter (4′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Capybara
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Capybara:
- Yarkand hare
- Rock pocket mouse
- Acacia rat
- Broad-footed mole
- Cape gerbil
- Long-tailed marmot
- Peters’s mouse
- East African highland shrew
- Meerkat
- Yucatan deer mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Capybara
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Capybara:
- Grant’s gazelle with an average maximal age of 12.67 years
- Greater fairy armadillo with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Black giant squirrel with an average maximal age of 10.08 years
- Bush dog with an average maximal age of 10.33 years
- White-tailed mongoose with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Crab-eating raccoon with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Blue duiker with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Hamlyn’s monkey with an average maximal age of 13.5 years
- Mindanao treeshrew with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
- Blanford’s fox with an average maximal age of 10 years