Biometric features of the capybara´s body and small intestine Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris Linnaeus, 1766 (Mammalia, Rodentia, Hydrochaeridae)

• Main Authors: Tarcízio Antônio Rego de Paula, Cláudio César Fonseca, Sirlene Souza Rodrigues, Juliano Vogas Peixoto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2006-09-01
• Series: Biotemas
• Subjects: capybara; small intestine; anatomy; biometry; volumetry
• Online Access: http://www.biotemas.ufsc.br/volumes/pdf/volume193/p79a86.pdf

Biometric aspects of the body were analyzed, as well as some aspects of the small intestine of the capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris wild species, particularly those that have been provoking economic interest in meat and leather production. Data such as age, corporal weight and length and thoracic perimeter and height were analyzed. Significant correlations were found between the age and the crown-rump (CR) and snout-rump (SR) corporal lengths, and between the corporal weight and the parameters of corporal length, thoracic perimeter and height, so that the age and the corporal weight could be obtained starting from more accessible biometric parameters, relative to corporal measurement. Most of the correlations were more significant in the male animals, especially the correlations between the corporal weight and the parameters CR length, thoracic perimeter and height, as well as the correlation among CR length and thoracic height and perimeter, suggesting the existence of possible sexual dimorphism. In relation to the small intestine, estimates were made of the length and volumetric capacity totals as well as those of its individual segments. The capybara possesses a small intestine that is relatively long, about five times longer than the corporal length, and with a volumetric capacity that is relatively high, representing 6.7% of the corporal weight.