Escudo de la República de Colombia Escudo de la República de Colombia
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✎ Natalia Guzmán

✎ Natalia Guzmán

✎ Diego Aguilera

Spectacled Caiman
Caiman crocodilusAndean region

  • Generalities
  • Morpho-functionality
  • Lifecycle
  • Distribution

RECORRIDO VIRTUAL POR LA BIODIVERSIDAD DE COLOMBIA
Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Spectacled Caiman
Caiman crocodilus

This species of caiman is more active at night; however, it can be seen during the day on sandbanks. They are carnivores and their diet varies according to the size of the individual, adults can measure 2.5 m and the offspring are less than one meter in length. They feed on aquatic arthropods, mollusks, and other terrestrial invertebrates; when they exceed the meter long they begin to consume birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, the adults feed mainly on fish and small mammals. The female cares for the young for several months.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near Threatened

Least Concern

Not Evaluated

Data Deficient

Morpho-functionality

Mouth

They only move their jaw up and down.

Jaws

The movement of the jaw can be stopped without the need for musculature by means of a locking mechanism of the transiliens cartilage located in the lower jaw.

Hunt

At the time of hunting they move in such a way that they enclose their prey using their tail and their body

Lifecycle

Reproductive activity varies depending on the locality, occurring mainly during the rainy season. The females build a litter nest after copulation, the clutch size is 28 to 40 eggs and the incubation period is between 70 and 90 days. When the eggs hatch, the young make sounds to attract the mother, she opens the nest and carries the young in her mouth to the water. The young remain grouped in shallow waters with access to vegetation that provides shelter and food during their first months of life.

Spectacled Caiman

Distribution

It presents a wide distribution, we can find it from Mexico to Brazil and has been introduced to the United States, Puerto Rico and Cuba. In Colombia it inhabits the basins of the Magdalena, Orinoco and Amazon rivers. Although its main habitat is freshwater environments, there are records in brackish water such as marshes and mangroves. This species can be found in the Gorgona Island National Natural Park and has been introduced to the Island of San Andrés.

Distribution area