Black Caiman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iBlack Caiman | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Melanosuchus niger Spix, 1825 |
The Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is a threatened species, related to alligators. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers and lakes, in the seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon basin, and in other freshwater habitats in South America. Once common, it was hunted to near extinction primarily for its commercially valuable hide.
The black caiman can grow to about 6 meters (20 feet)[citation needed] in length, and is both the largest member of the Alligatoridae family and the Amazon's largest predator. They eat fish, including piranhas, birds, turtles, and land-dwelling animals like the capybara and deer when they come to the water to get a drink. Larger specimens can take tapirs. Their teeth are designed to grab but not rip, so they swallow their food whole after drowning it. Immature specimens eat crustaceans and insects. The caiman's excrement was once a substantial food source for the plankton which form the base of the aquatic Amazonian food chain, and their rarity has thus led to a concomitant decline of many species, including some that provide an important food source for humans.
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).
In December, females build a nest of soil and vegetation, which is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) across and 0.75 meters wide (2.5 feet). They lay from 50 to 60 eggs, which hatch in about six weeks. They sometimes eat their young.
Their main predator is humans, who hunt them for leather or meat. On occasion, they are hunted by Jaguar (animal), who have powerful enough jaws to crush the skulls, and may also be preyed upon by anacondas.
[edit] References
- Ross (2000). Melanosuchus niger. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is dependent on conservation
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- Information from the Florida Museum of Natural History
- The Hunt for the Black Caiman, from International Wildlife.
