If you think beavers are big, wait until you see a capybara! These giant rodents weigh between 75 and 150 pounds (34 & 68 kg), making them twice the size of North American beavers. They are the biggest rodents in the world, growing up to 4.4 feet (1.34m) long and standing at least 2 feet tall (60cm).

Capybaras can dive and stay underwater for up to 5 minutes at a time—often falling asleep in the water whilst keeping their nose at the edge of the banks. Napping along rivers, mangroves and marshes helps them to stay cool.

Capybaras are very social animals and love to play with each other and humans. In fact, they’re so friendly that they sometimes cuddle up to their owners in bed at night. They often enjoy playing with toys, especially balls and stuffed animals. 

Capybaras are highly social animals that live in groups of around 10 to as many as 30 individuals. The groups are stable and work together to defend their habitat. The females raise their babies together, and young capybaras nurse from several moms. The herd also keeps a watchful eye on young capybaras who are more susceptible to predators.

Capybaras have two long front teeth. Like other rodents, these teeth never stop growing. Their incisors are strong and chisel-like, highly effective at cutting through grass. To keep their teeth a reasonable length, capybaras wear them down by grinding and chewing on food or bark. Their molars keep growing throughout their life but wear down from the constant grinding capybaras do to masticate their greens.

Sometimes referred to as "nature's ottoman," capybaras have developed a reputation as being a nice place to take a load off. They have a mutualistic relationship with birds like the yellow-headed caracara who feed on insects from the rodents’ back while the rodent benefits from getting rid of the pesky bugs. Capybaras have a commensalistic relationship with birds like cattle tyrants, which travel with the large rodents to snag whatever insects they pick up.

With an average weight of around 50 kilograms, these barrel-shaped mammals are certainly no field mice—weighing anywhere between 35 and 70 kilograms. Although female Capybaras are a little heavier than their male counterparts.

Capybaras are herbivores and have no natural prey. Their territories sometimes overlap with other animals but in those cases they just chase of any intruders and leave it at that. Their predators are limited, with the small group including jaguars, anacondas and harpy eagles to name a few.