Swamphorn

A swamphorn (Heitostium ceratops) is a species of large rodent native to South American rainforests, swamps, marshlands, and mangroves. The closest living relative of swamphorns are capybaras, which are very similar in size and their genetics confirms that they evolved from the same ancestors. The swamphorn is usually a peaceful herbivore that mainly feeds on grass, leaves, fruits, vegetables, bulbs, seeds, nuts, lilies, and underwater plants, but can also feed on crabs and mollusks to supplement their diets. The females are social animals, while the males are almost entirely solitary, and can fight other males if they are in their territories, unless during mating seasons, when males fight against other males for the rights to mate. The conservation status of the swamphorn is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the swamphorn tolerates most of human activities. There are even successful breeding populations of swamphorns living throughout Florida, even in the Florida Everglades, they may have came to Florida due to pet releases/escapees, but it may have been due to Hurricane Andrew which destroyed some enclosures in zoos where the hurricane hit, letting swamphorns loose in the ecosystem and they flourished due to abundant food sources and less predators.