Black Caiman

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Black Caiman

The black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is a crocodilian. It is a carnivorous reptile

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
that lives along slow-moving river

River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s and lake

Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, in the seasonally flooded savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
s of the Amazon basin

Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The basin is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries....
, and in other freshwater

Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
habitats in South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. Once common, it was hunted to near extinction primarily for its commercially valuable hide. It is now listed as Conservation Dependent

Conservation Dependent

Conservation Dependent was an IUCN Red List assigned to species or lower taxa which were dependent on conservation efforts to prevent the taxon becoming threatened species with extinction....
.

black caiman has a bony ridge over red eyes, and black, scaly skin.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Black Caiman'

Start a new discussion about 'Black Caiman'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is a crocodilian. It is a carnivorous reptile

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
that lives along slow-moving river

River

Lake

A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all....
s, in the seasonally flooded savanna

Savanna

Amazon Basin

Freshwater

South America

Conservation Dependent

Conservation Dependent was an IUCN Red List assigned to species or lower taxa which were dependent on conservation efforts to prevent the taxon becoming threatened species with extinction....
.

Appearance

The black caiman has a bony ridge over red eyes, and black, scaly skin. The skin coloration helps with camouflage during its nocturnal hunts, but may also help absorb heat (See thermoregulation
Thermoregulation

Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its core temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different....
).

Size

The black caiman is one of the largest reptile

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
s and is the largest member of the family Alligatoridae

Alligatoridae

Alligators and caimans are archosaurs, species of crocodilians and form the family Alligatoridae ....
. The black caiman can grow to 5 m (16.5 ft) long, making it the largest member of the Alligator family and the largest predator in the Amazon basin

Amazon Basin

Acre (state)

Acre is a States of Brazil of Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the north is the state of Amazonas, Brazil, to the east is a short border with the state of Rond?nia, to the south is Bolivia and to the west is the Ucayali Region of Peru....
, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
in 1965 and, which if accurate, would count as the largest crocodilian recorded besides saltwater crocodiles. Most adult black caimans are 3 to 4.26 meters (10-14 feet), with old males rarely growing larger than 5 meters (16.5 ft)

Diet

They eat fish

Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, including piranha

Piranha

A piranha or pira?a is a member of a family of omnivorous freshwater fish which live in South American rivers. In Venezuelan rivers they are called caribes....
s, catfish

Catfish

Catfish are a very diverse group of Actinopterygii fish. Named for their prominent barbel s, which resemble a cat's whiskers , catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest, the Pangasius gigas from Southeast Asia and the longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores , and even to a tiny parasite species commonly called the ca...
, and other animals, including bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the Order Testudines , most of whose body is shielded by a special bone or cartilage animal shell developed from their ribs....
s, and land-dwelling animals like the capybara

Capybara

Capybara , also known as capibara, chig?ire in Venezuela, chig?iro, and carpincho in Spanish language, and capivara in Portuguese language, is the largest living rodent in the world....
and deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae . A number of broadly similar animals from related families within the order even-toed ungulate are often also called deer....
when they come to the water to get a drink. Larger specimens can take tapirs, anaconda

Anaconda

An anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the common or green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, which is one of the largest snakes in the world....
s and is capable of predation on potentially deadly predators such as puma

Puma

The cougar , also puma, mountain lion, or panther, depending on region, is a mammal of the Felidae family, native to the Americas....
s and jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a New World Felidae and one of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus, along with the tiger, lion, and leopard of the Old World....
s. Jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a New World Felidae and one of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus, along with the tiger, lion, and leopard of the Old World....
s are a known predator of all other caiman species and juvenile Black caimans, but any caiman over 4 meters in length generally has no natural predator (given the size, weight and immense biting strength). Their teeth are designed to grab but not rip, so they swallow their food whole after drowning it. Immature specimens eat crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s and insect

Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s. Their main predator is humans, who hunt them for leather or meat. There are tales of this species devouring humans and given its size this is most definitely probable, although (like the critically endangered, but potentially dangerous Orinoco Crocodile

Orinoco Crocodile

The Orinoco Crocodile, Crocodylus intermedius, is a critically endangered crocodile found in freshwater in northern South America, in particular the Orinoco river....
of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
) it is very unlikely humans have been attacked in modern times due to the species low population. And given that most man-eaters in other species tend to be large adult males, this lowers the probability even more.

In Fiction

They were also mentioned in Matthew Reilly's best selling book "Temple", where they are constantly eating people that fall in the water. As well, it was featured rather prominantly in "Amazonia" by James Rollins wherein a Special forces soldier is eaten by a Black Caiman after it capsizes the inflatable boat in which he is riding.

Reproduction

In December, females build a nest of soil and vegetation, which is about 1.5 meters (5 ft) across and 0.75 meters wide (2.5 ft). They lay from 50 to 60 eggs

Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
, which hatch in about six weeks. They sometimes eat their young. It has been shown that these animals frequently remove their young from the nest,in their mouths [thus the belief of some, they eat their young] at hatching, and transport them to a 'holding pool' area. The mother will even assist hatchlings to break out of their eggs,[they 'squeak' inside the egg, which the mother hears] which are tough and leathery, by chewing the egg to break it open for the young to emerge. The mother will look after her young for several months. The female black caiman only breeds once every 2 to 3 years.

External links

, from International Wildlife Federaton.