A capybara it is a rodent, but for many years it was classified as a fish by the Vatican. As a semi-aquatic animal, the capybara came under a specific interpretation of the Catholic Church because of a Christian tradition.
Known as the largest rodent in the world, the capybara is a animal common in South America. It has good adaptation to water, because of the membranes between the toes that help it move in the aquatic environment.
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The curious interpretation of the Vatican has a relation with the food allowed during Lent. During this period, Christians cannot eat chicken or red meat. Therefore, fish becomes the main food of Catholics, especially on Good Friday.
However, historian Dolly Jørgensen explains that the food relationship of the Christian period is not necessarily about the origin of meat, but about aquatic animals and land animals.
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Why did the Vatican consider capybaras to be fish?
Already in the Middle Ages, Catholics could not eat different animals for forty days, which is the time of lent.
“While most people today think the restriction is about eating meat, the dietary restriction was not about mammals and birds versus fish, but about land versus water. Thus, other animals that spent time in the water qualified as aquatic and could be eaten in Lent”, explains Dolly Jørgensen in her blog.
As we said, the capybara is an animal that can move in water, because of its membranes. Therefore, it is considered semiaquatic.
Thus, a group of religious people questioned the Vatican about whether the capybara would be in the classification released for consumption, since the animal also lives in water.
Then, in 1784, the request was granted and the capybara was classified as a fish by the Vatican. In this way, Christians could continue to consume this meat during Lent.
Despite a curious decision, the capybara is not the only rodent on the list, the beaver it also had a similar classification and was consumed by Catholics during this period of fasting.