Talk:Black Caiman
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Credible citations are needed for the assertions that the black caiman reaches 20 feet and is capable of taking puma and jaguars. Most scientists cap the length as 15 feet and state that reports of longer specimens are unsubstantiated. Likewise, predation on the jaguar is something that needs to be proven. I'll leave the page as is for now but will revise the length and remove the jaguar predation snippet at some point down the line unless sources can be provided. 149.79.54.95 13:49, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
The photograph originally appended to this article is most emphatically NOT a black caiman. The pictured animal possesses the angular "tabs" on the eyelids of the spectacled and broad-snouted caimans, it lacks the prominent rostral ridges of the black caiman, the snout is correspondingly too shallow, the eye sockets are too short, and it is solid black, whereas the "black" caiman is actually prominently striped, with pronounced blotches on the lower jaw, even as an adult. The animal pictured is a spectacled caiman, probably a brown caiman (believed to be common in the pet trade); the spectacle is remarkably weak, probably from pachyostosis in captivity. 72.177.116.124 15:07, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Do anacondas eat black caimans?
According to the black caiman article, black caimans have no predators. But according to the anaconda article, anacondas eat caimans. Anyone like to clear this up? Raffles mk 05:40, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Response
A clarification about the identity of the caiman in the picture, it is in fact a yacare caiman at the Vancouver Aquarium. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pristis microdon (talk • contribs) 01:47, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
According to the article I have, anacondas can handle fully grown spectacled caimans and spectacled caimans are considered very small. I also have a list of specific anaconda meals and 5 spectacled caimans being eaten by anacondas has been documented. However, the list is absent of black caimans. Black caimans are more or less too powerful for anacondas to eat though I can see a large anaconda taking on a small black caiman that's immature. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.30.137.56 (talk) 23:15, 24 December 2007 (UTC)
Humans killing black caiman for their hide are not actual predators. Being an apex predator, the black caiman has no predators. I deleted the section predator. Furthermore, this article is really crappy. It has bad grammar, bad writing, and dubious facts. Firstly, I don't think the black caiman is the second largest crocodile, because it is not a crocodile at all, it is a crocodilian, and a Nile Crocodile is as big as a saltwater crocodile. Also, the intro said it is threatened, where as the status thing says they are not threatened, just conservation dependent. Gtbob12 (talk) 20:40, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
