• Capibaras mate exclusively in water, and if a female does not want to mate with a particular male, she either dives or leaves the water. A female can refuse mating by diving or leaving the water.
• Capibaras' front and molar teeth grow throughout their lives, compensating for wear from eating grass. Like other rodents, their front teeth grow continuously.
• The capibara's jaw joint allows chewing forward and backward, unlike most mammals that chew side to side. This feature helps them efficiently chew plant food even in winter, when it is less nutritious.
• Capibara eats its own feces to use bacteria from the gut microbiota for digesting cellulose and absorbing proteins and vitamins. This helps it obtain nutrients from plant food as efficiently as possible.

The capybara is an herbivorous species; it grazes and feeds on grass, aquatic plants, bark, fruits, and algae. The species obtains food by biting grass with its teeth. The diet includes grass, aquatic plants, bark, fruits, and algae. Young capybaras consume milk. Daily food intake ranges from 1.5 kilograms to 4 kilograms. Capybaras are preyed upon by anacondas, true crocodiles, caimans, and panthers.