Page "Capybara" Paragraph 12

Capybaras are herbivores, grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants, as well as fruit and tree bark.

They are very selective feeders and will feed on the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it.

They eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season, as fewer plants are available.

While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season.

Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter and thus are not consumed at that time.

The capybara's jaw hinge is not perpendicular and they thus chew food by grinding back-and-forth rather than side-to-side.

Capybaras are coprophagous, meaning they eat their own feces as a source of bacterial gut flora, to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet, and to extract the maximum protein and vitamins from their food.

They may also regurgitate food to masticate again, similar to cud-chewing by a cow.