Timeline for Can capybaras spread to Louisiana from Venezuela and populate it in less than 1000 years?
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19 events
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| Jun 13, 2018 at 11:15 | comment | added | Separatrix | @corsiKa, potentially, I can only find a single reference to capybara having a low tolerance for saltwater, it's generally described their habitat must have fresh water. | |
| Jun 13, 2018 at 9:38 | comment | added | Separatrix | @jean There's nothing calling them to Louisiana, there's nothing much driving them out apart from group size getting a bit large, they are famously sedentary, all other things being equal, why would they travel much further than the edge of the currently occupied territory to establish a new one. | |
| Jun 13, 2018 at 9:33 | comment | added | Separatrix | @user3445853, there are implications of significant climate change in the question, so I thought it reasonable to overlook such minor details in favour of a crude population expansion model | |
| Jun 13, 2018 at 9:30 | comment | added | Aaron Butacov | Keep in mind, for them to "walk" all the way over generations, they need to get through a literal desert. | |
| Jun 13, 2018 at 7:51 | comment | added | J_rite | the 700m/day is on a normal day, so they may move faster if something is really pushing them. | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 20:14 | comment | added | Michael Seifert | @user3445853: Two species of capybara (neochoerus aesopi and neochoerus pinckneyi) successfully migrated from South America to North America during the Great American Interchange about 3 million years ago. So it's definitely possible for capybaras to get from South America to North America; the question is just how long it would take. (The fossil record doesn't have enough resolution to answer this question, unfortunately.) | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 17:59 | comment | added | user3445853 | I don't think this result holds: The biggest problem is that we won't have a continuous swampland from Venezuela to Louisiana. Your estimate is for spreading through ideal or at least very suitable terrain, i.e. swamp. I think much of the middle bit of Mexico won't be; for swamps you need to be more or less level as well as have suitable underground (not bedrock) and climate (sufficient rainfall as dependent on prevailing winds and temperatures). | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 17:54 | comment | added | Giter | @corsiKa: They're pretty good swimmers, and after eating all the good vegetation on one bank some would notice the grass is greener on the other side and take the plunge. | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 16:04 | comment | added | corsiKa | Would the Panama Canal significantly hinder their progress? | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 15:41 | comment | added | jean | @Separatrix "Walks, grazing, in typical day about 700 m (.43 mi)" I don't see from where you got only that form generation from generation, they are grazing nomads they don't form nests or dens, they will stick to a plce just wihle it has food | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 15:33 | comment | added | Separatrix | @jean, it fits with their territory sizes, the data on the linked site is all sourced. | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 15:26 | comment | added | jean | They are grazing animals meaning they ill keep moving to new areas to feed. Moving only 700m per generation looks very unlikely | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 14:36 | history | edited | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 12, 2018 at 14:23 | history | edited | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 12, 2018 at 13:48 | history | edited | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 12, 2018 at 13:42 | history | edited | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 12, 2018 at 13:34 | history | edited | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 12, 2018 at 13:34 | comment | added | Valerio Pastore | My bad then: I had severely overestimated the environmental pressure that could push the capybaras to migrate north in a hurry. In relatively stable conditions, your estimate is the most accurate | |
| Jun 12, 2018 at 13:31 | history | answered | Separatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |