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Photo of the Day

October 16, 2002

Looming Capybara, Venezuela, 1996

Photograph by Robert Caputo

"Emerging at dusk to hunt, a burrowing owl is no threat to a capybara, the world's largest rodent. Resembling a cross between a guinea pig and a hippopotamus, the web-footed 'water hog' may grow to 140 pounds [64 kilograms] and stand knee-high to a man. Its mortal enemies include jaguars, caimans, and cowboys."

—From "The Orinoco: Into the Heart of Venezuela," April 1998, National Geographic magazine