You can write out a take as an ASCII file, then read the file back into the scene and review it later.

Motion capture files use the .mov file format. This file format is called “move” in the file browser. It is not related to any movie file format. For more information on file formats, see Supported file formats in the Files Management chapter in the Basics guide.

Since a single scene may have dozens of motions, you probably do not want to save each move as a separate Maya file, especially after you have selected the final versions of the motion. It is much easier to save only the motion as a separate file.