Editing Paca (section)

==Feeding==
[[File:HumedoTepezc 02.jpg|thumb|left|Foraging pacas in Costa Rica]]
In the wild, pacas eat fruits from [[understory]] trees and fallen fruits from taller trees, but may also eat leaves, buds, flowers, fungi, and insects.  They play a vital role in seed dispersal, and, with seasonal adaptations, their home ranges are often centered on a group of fruit trees.  Pacas normally do not use their fore-paws to manipulate fruits (as do agoutis), instead using their powerful jaw muscles to break open hard-shelled fruits.  Unlike agoutis, pacas can store fat, and so are less dependent on the caching of seeds.  Competition from agoutis is avoided by a slight variation in activity cycles and food preferences.  Like rabbits, pacas are [[Coprophagy|coprophagous]] and absorb protein and carbohydrates from specially produced moist fecal pellets.  Before allowing their young to suckle, mothers lick them to stimulate them to defecate and urinate, and then lick the resulting product, both to feed herself and to prevent the odour from attracting predators.<ref name="Grzimek" />