With an average weight of around 50 kilograms (110 lb), these barrel-shaped mammals are the world's largest rodents. The largest on record was a 91 kg (201 lb) wild female from Brazil.

Like other rodents, a capybara's teeth grow continuously, and they wear them down by grazing on aquatic plants, barks, tubers, and sugar cane.

Capybaras are found throughout almost all countries of South America except Chile.

Its closest relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu.

Similar to hippos, these rodents have eyes, ears and nostrils on the top of their head, which allows them to remain mostly submerged underwater for long periods of time--a valuable tool when hiding from predators.

Often referred to as "nature's ottoman", these friendly critters don't ever seem to reject a ride-sharing request from another animal. A whole host of bird species, monkeys, rabbits, and even other rodents can be found seated, perched or laying on the back of a much-obliging capybara.

Capybaras are rather vocal animals. They like to express themselves by purring, barking, cackling, whistling, squealing, whining, grunting, and even teeth-chattering, depending on what they're trying to communicate.

An adult can eat 6 to 8 pounds of grass per day. During the dry season, when grass is less plentiful, capybaras eat grains, melons, squashes, and reeds.

Coprophagy, or the eating of excrement, is a normal nutritional behavior for capybaras. Eating of the feces allows the recovery of nutrients that were not utilized during the first pass through the digestive system.

While Capybaras like to spend much of their time in the water, they can get around on land as well, and are capable of reaching speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h).