# 13 Unique Survival Skills of Capybaras: How They Became the "Kings of the Jungle"

4. **Digestive Efficiency System**

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Capybaras' remarkably effective digestive system lets them maximise the nutrients from their plant-based diet. Larger than their stomach, their specialised cecum hosts helpful bacteria that process difficult plant components. Many other herbivores cannot efficiently break down cellulose and other tough plant materials; this technique helps them do so. Like several other herbivorous animals, they practise coprophagy—that is, eat their own partially digested faeces to absorb extra nutrients and helpful microorganisms. From grasses and aquatic plants to tree bark and fruits, this special digestive adaption lets them flourish on a wide range of plant materials, therefore enabling them to be quite flexible in response to seasonal fluctuations in food availability.