- Animals
- ›Chordates
- ›Vertebrates
- ›Mammals
- ›Therians
- ›Placental Mammals
- ›Primates, Rodents, and Allies
- ›Rodents
- ›Ctenohystricans
- ›Hystricognaths
- ›Cavies, Agoutis, and Pacas
- ›Cavies

Capybaras and Rock Cavies
Hydrochoerinae
The Hydrochoerinae are a subfamily of Caviidae, consisting of two living genera, Hydrochoerus, the capybaras, and Kerodon, the rock cavies. In addition, a number of extinct genera related to capybaras should also be placed in this subfamily. The taxonomy of Hydrochoerinae is confused because, until 2005, living capybaras and their extinct relatives were placed in their own family, Hydrochoeridae. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies recognize a close relationship between Hydrochoerus and Kerodon, supporting placement of both genera...
2 branches of this subfamily, most-observed first · about 4 known species
See this branch on the Wheel of Life →Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Hydrochoerinae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 846257.

