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Caimans
A caiman (also cayman as a variant spelling) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Mexico, Central and South America from marshes and swamps to mangrove rivers and lakes. They have scaly skin and live a fairly nocturnal existence. They are relatively small-sized crocodilians with an average maximum weight of depending on species, with the exception of the black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger''), which can grow more than in length and weigh in excess of 1,000 kg (2,200 Ib). The black caiman is the largest caiman species in the world and is found in the slow-moving rivers and lakes that surround the Amazon basin. The smallest species is the Cuvier's dwarf caiman (''Paleosuchus palpebrosus''), which grows to long. There are six different species of caiman found throughout the watery jungle habitats of Central and Southern America. The average length for most o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Caiman
The black caiman (''Melanosuchus niger'') is a species of large crocodilian and is the largest species of the family Alligatoridae. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers, lakes, seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon basin, and in other freshwater habitats of South America. It is a large species, growing to at least and possibly up to in length, which makes it the third largest reptile in the Neotropical realm, behind the American crocodile, and the Orinoco crocodile.''Melanosuchus niger'' Black caiman Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved on 2013-04-13. As its common and scientific names imply, the black caiman has a dark coloration as an adult. In some individuals, the dark coloration can appear almost black. It has grey to brown banding on the lower jaw. Juveniles have a more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodilia
Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria. Members of the order's total group, the clade Pseudosuchia, appeared about 250 million years ago in the Early Triassic period, and diversified during the Mesozoic era. The order Crocodilia includes the true crocodiles (family Crocodylidae), the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), and the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae). Although the term 'crocodiles' is sometimes used to refer to all of these, crocodilians is a less ambiguous vernacular term for members of this group. Large, solidly built, lizard-like reptiles, crocodilians have long flattened snouts, laterally compressed tails, and eyes, ears, and nostrils at the top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman
Cuvier's dwarf caiman (''Paleosuchus palpebrosus'') is a small crocodilian in the alligator family from northern and central South America. It is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Venezuela. It lives in riverine forests, flooded forests near lakes, and near fast-flowing rivers and streams. It can traverse dry land to reach temporary pools and tolerates colder water than other species of caimans. Other common names for this species include the musky caiman, the dwarf caiman, Cuvier's caiman, and the smooth-fronted caiman (the latter name is also used for ''P. trigonatus''). It is sometimes kept in captivity as a pet and may be referred to as the wedge-head caiman by the pet trade community. Cuvier's dwarf caiman was first described by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier in 1807 and is one of only two species in the genus ''Paleosuchus'', the other species being '' P. trigonatus''. Their closest relatives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligatorid
The family (biology), family Alligatoridae of crocodylians includes alligators, caimans and their extinct relatives. Phylogeny The superfamily Alligatoroidea includes all crocodilians (fossil and extant) that are more closely related to the American alligator than to either the Nile crocodile or the gharial. This is a stem-based taxon, stem-based definition for alligators, and is more inclusive than the crown group Alligatoridae. As a crown group, Alligatoridae only includes the last common ancestor of all extant taxon, extant (living) alligators, caimans, and their descendants (living or extinct), whereas Alligatoroidea, as a stem-based group, also includes more basal (phylogenetics), basal extinct alligator ancestors that are more closely related to living alligators than to crocodiles or gavialids. When considering only living taxa (neontology), this makes Alligatoroidea and Alligatoridae redundant. The simplified cladogram below shows Alligatoridae's relationships to other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligatoridae
The family Alligatoridae of crocodylians includes alligators, caimans and their extinct relatives. Phylogeny The superfamily Alligatoroidea includes all crocodilians (fossil and extant) that are more closely related to the American alligator than to either the Nile crocodile or the gharial. This is a stem-based definition for alligators, and is more inclusive than the crown group Alligatoridae. As a crown group, Alligatoridae only includes the last common ancestor of all extant (living) alligators, caimans, and their descendants (living or extinct), whereas Alligatoroidea, as a stem-based group, also includes more basal extinct alligator ancestors that are more closely related to living alligators than to crocodiles or gavialids. When considering only living taxa (neontology), this makes Alligatoroidea and Alligatoridae redundant. The simplified cladogram below shows Alligatoridae's relationships to other extant (living) crocodilians. The below detailed cladogram show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mourasuchus
''Mourasuchus'' is an extinct genus of giant, aberrant caiman from the Miocene of South America. Its skull has been described as duck-like, being broad, flat, and very elongate, superficially resembling ''Stomatosuchus'' from the Late Cretaceous. History of Discovery ''Mourasuchus'' was first described by Price in 1964 based on a strange and nearly complete skull from the Solimões Formation of Amazonian Brazil, calling it ''Mourasuchus amazoniensis''. Unaware of Price's discovery, Langston described ''"Nettosuchus" atopus'' ("Absurd Duck Crocodile") only a year later based on fragmentary cranial, mandibular and postcranial remains from the middle Miocene La Venta Lagerstätte, a part of the Honda Group. Although he did recognize its similarities to caimans and alligators, Langston reasoned that its bizarre anatomy warranted its own monotypic family, naming it Nettosuchidae.Langston, W. (1965). ''Fossil crocodilians from Colombia and the Cenozoic history of the Crocodilia in So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the Oligocene epoch about 37 million years ago. The name "alligator" is probably an anglicized form of ', the Spanish term for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Later English spellings of the name included ''allagarta'' and ''alagarto''. Evolution Alligators and caimans split in North America during the early Tertiary or late Cretaceous (about 53 million to about 65 million years ago). The Chinese alligator split from the American alligator about 33 million years ago and probably descended from a lineage that crossed the Bering land bridge during the Neogene. The modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant taxon, extant members of the order (biology), order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae) among other extinct taxa. Although they appear similar, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological family (biology), families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while Morphology (biology), morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another obvious trait is that the upp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yacare Caiman
The yacare caiman (''Caiman yacare''), also known commonly as the jacare caiman, Spanish yacaré, Paraguayan caiman, piranha caiman, red caiman, southern spectacled caiman, ''jacaré'' in Portuguese, and îakaré in Old Tupi, is a species of caiman, a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae. The species is endemic to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Brown in color and covered with dark blotches, males grow to a total length (including tail) of and weigh around ; while females grow to long and about . Typical habitats of this caiman include lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Its diet primarily consists of aquatic animals, such as snails, and occasionally land vertebrates. Mating occurs in the rainy season and eggs hatch in March, with young fending for themselves as soon as they hatch. The yacare caiman was hunted heavily for its skin to use for leather in the 1980s, which caused its population to decrease significantly. However, trading restrictions placed since have caused i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caiman (genus)
''Caiman'' is a genus of caimans within the alligatorid subfamily Caimaninae. They inhabit Central and South America. They are relatively small sized crocodilians, with all species reaching lengths of only a couple of meters and weighing on average. Characteristics Caimans are similar to alligators in morphology but differ in having bony plates, known as osteoderms, buried in the skin on the underside. The broad-snouted and spectacled caimans are characterised by having a bony ridge across the bridge of the nose just below the eyes. The yacare caiman is the largest species in the genus, attaining an average adult length of , the spectacled caiman reaches , with the female rather smaller, and the broad-snouted caiman is the smallest, more typically measuring for males and for females. Distribution and habitat This genus is present in Central and South America. The spectacled caiman (''Caiman crocodilus'') occurs in Central America and parts of the northern half of South Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purussaurus
''Purussaurus'' is an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, from the Friasian to the Huayquerian in the SALMA classification. It is known from skull material found in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, Colombian Villavieja Formation, Panamanian Culebra Formation and the Urumaco and Socorro Formations of northern Venezuela. Description The skull length of the largest known individual of the type species, ''P. brasiliensis'' is . It has been estimated that ''P. brasiliensis'' reached about in length, weighing about . Another estimate gave a larger size of in length, ranging from , and in weight, ranging from , with a mean daily food intake of . It is also likely that ''Purussaurus'' reached only long and . A 2022 study estimated a length of and a mass of using a phylogenetic approach; and a length of and mass of using a non-phylogenetic approach. As only skulls have been found, the actual length is not certain. Bite force ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caiman Lizards
The genus ''Dracaena'' (romanized form of the Ancient Greek δράκαινα - ''drakaina'', "female dragon"), also called caiman lizards or water tegus, is in the teiid family, along with tegus and ameivas. Caiman lizards are found in South America in Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Brazil. These semiaquatic lizards spend a lot of time in the water and inhabit marshes, streams and flooded forests. Caiman lizards often bask on branches overhanging the water. Classification Extant Species Listed alphabetically. The Reptile Database Fossils * †'''' - the |
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