Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766)

Charles A. Woods, 1993, Order Rodentia - Suborder Hystricognathi, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 771-806 : 781

Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris (Linnaeus, 1766) . Syst. Nat., 12th ed., 1:103.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Habitat in Surinamo". Cabrera (1961:583) gave Pernambuco, Brazil, but see Husson (1978:451) for restriction to Suriname .

DISTRIBUTION: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas and Peru, south through Brazil, Paraguay, NE Argentina, and Uruguay.

STATUS: Locally common, uncommon in Panama; farmed for meat in some areas.

SYNONYMS: capybara, cobaya , dabbeni, irroratus, isthmius, notalis, uruguayensis.

COMMENTS: Includes isthmius; see Handley (1966a:785). Reviewed by Mones and Ojasti (1986, Mammalian Species, 264, as Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ).