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Caimans
A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. Caimans are native to Central America, Central and South America and inhabit marsh, marshes, swamps, lakes, and mangrove rivers. 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 450 kg (1,000 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 wate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tsoabichi
''Tsoabichi'' (from Shoshoni language, Shoshone "''tso’abichi’''", meaning "monster") is an extinct genus of caimanine crocodylian. Fossils are known from the Green River Formation in Wyoming, and date back to the Ypresian stage of the Eocene (Wasatchian stage of North American land mammal age, North American age). The genus was named and scientifically described, described in 2010 by paleontologist Christopher A. Brochu, with the type species being ''Tsoabichi greenriverensis''. According to the current understanding of caiman evolutionary relationships, ''Tsoabichi'' is a Basal (phylogenetics), basal member of Caimaninae and may have evolved after caimans dispersed into North America from northern and central South America, their main center of diversity in the Cenozoic. Description Some living caimans such as the Spectacled Caiman have a "spectacle", or a bony ridge between the eyes. ''Tsoabichi'' lacks a spectacle, but it does have three smaller ridges between the orbit (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Paranasuchus
''Paranasuchus'' is an extinct genus of large caiman from the Late Miocene Ituzaingó Formation of Argentina. The type species was originally described as a new species of ''Caiman'', ''C. gasparinae'', in 2013, but a study from 2024 concluded that it differed significantly enough to represent its own genus. ''Paranasuchus'' was a large caiman with a broad skull and was only one of several generalized caimans that inhabited Paraná during the Late Miocene. History and naming The holotype of ''Paranasuchus'' consists of a partial snout (including a premaxilla, maxilla an other adjacent bones) as well as an associated skull table from Argentinas Ituzaingó Formation. Though the material had been considered to be referrable to the extant broad-snouted caiman in an unpublished doctoral thesis by Zulma Brandoni de Gasparini, a much later study from 2013 highlighted that this assumption was seemingly proposed without any actual justification or evidence. The study by Paula Bona & Ari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Paranacaiman
''Paranacaiman'' is an extinct genus of large caiman from the Late Miocene Ituzaingó Formation of Argentina. The holotype, a skull table, was part of the hypodigm for "Caiman lutescens", which was later found to be a nomen dubium. Since a lectotype had been erected for "C. lutescens", the skull table was not name-bearing and was thus used to erect ''Paranacaiman''. The genus is monotypic, meaning it only contains a single species: ''Paranacaiman bravardi''. History and naming The type specimen of ''Paranacaiman'' is the isolated skull table designated MACN-Pv 13551, which has historically been tied to the now dubious taxon "Caiman lutescens". "Caiman lutescens" was described in 1912 by Italian paleontologist Gaetano Rovereto as "Alligator lutescens" on the basis of various fragmentary skull and postcranial remains found within the layers of the Ituzaingó Formation in Argentina. However, Rovereto did not designate a holotype specimen among his finds, rendering the entire col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gnatusuchus
''Gnatusuchus'' is an extinct genus of caiman represented by the type species ''Gnatusuchus pebasensis'' from the Middle Miocene Pebas Formation of Peru. ''Gnatusuchus'' lived about 13 million years ago (Ma) in a large wetland system called the Pebas mega-wetlands that covered over one million square kilometers of what is now the Amazon Basin (the modern basin had not yet developed at that time and instead of draining from west to east into the Atlantic Ocean, river systems drained northward through the wetlands and into the Caribbean Sea). Discovery and naming Fish and molluscs have long been known from the Pebas Formation, however starting in 2002 systematic surveys of the Peruvian Iquitos area have led to the discovery of many vertebrate remains including further fish remains, mammals, turtles and an abundance of crocodilians, with two contemporaneous lignitic bonebeds preserving a minimum of 7 coexisting taxa. Among the fossils recovered from the Iquitos localities is the holo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Albertochampsa
''Albertochampsa'' is an extinct genus of alligatorid (possibly a stem-caiman or a basal alligatorine) from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. It was named in 1972 by Bruce Erickson, and the type species is ''A. langstoni''. It is known from a skull from the Campanian-age Dinosaur Park Formation, where it was rare; ''Leidyosuchus'' is the most commonly found crocodilian at the Park. The skull of ''Albertochampsa'' was only about 21 cm long (8.3 in). Phylogeny ''Albertochampsa'' is a member of the family Alligatoridae, which includes the extant (living) alligators and caimans, although it is disputed whether ''Albertochampsa'' is more closely related to the alligators or the caimans. The below cladogram from a 2018 study shows ''Albertochampsa'' as more closely related to the caimans in the subfamily Caimaninae. The Late Cretaceous taxa ''Stangerochampsa'', ''Brachychampsa'' and ''Albertochampsa'' have been previously referred to as stem-group caimans, but Walter et al. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Necrosuchus
''Necrosuchus'' is an extinct genus of caiman from modern day Argentina that lived during the Paleocene epoch (Danian or possibly Selandian age, about 60 million years ago). It inhabited the marine or fluvio-lacustrine environment of the Patagonian Salamanca Formation. History and naming The fossil remains of ''Necrosuchus'' were unearthed on April 3, 1931 during the First Scarritt Expedition in the Argentinian Salamanca Formation and presented to American paleontologist Charles C. Mook. Mook however, busy with other research, was unable to describe the specimen himself. As an initial description was deemed vital to the works of several student researches at the time, Mook handed the specimen back to George G. Simpson for study. He eventually published his preliminary description in 1937, writing that his research "only carries this study as far as necessary" in the hopes of a more detailed description being later published by Mook himself. However this would not come to be and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Centenariosuchus
''Centenariosuchus'' is an extinct genus of caimanine crocodylian known from the Miocene of the Panama Canal Zone of Panama.''Centenariosuchus'' at .org It contains a single , ''Centenariosuchus gilmorei'', that was named in 2013 in honor of the upcoming centennial anniversary of the digging of the Panama Canal. Two fossil specimens consisting of skull fragments were found in the Early to Middle Miocene Cucaracha Formation in 2009 and 2011, and may belong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Caiman (genus)
''Caiman'' is a genus of caimans within the alligatorid subfamily (biology), subfamily Caimaninae. They inhabit Central America, 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. Classification The genus ''Caiman'' contains three extant taxon, extant (living) species: the Broad-snouted caiman ("Caiman latirostris"), the Spectacled caiman (''Caiman crocodilus''), and the Yacare caiman (''Caiman yacare''). There are also several extinct fossil species in the genus - possibly up to eight species. The genus ''Caiman'' belongs to the caiman subfamily Caimaninae, and the relationships of the living species of caimans can be shown in the cladogram below, based on molecular DNA-based phylogenetic studies: The below detailed cladogram of Caimaninae includes extinct fossil species, based on morphology (biology), morphological analysis: Characteristics Caimans are similar to all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Paleosuchus
''Paleosuchus'' is a South American genus of reptiles in the subfamily Caimaninae of the family Alligatoridae. They are the smallest members of the order Crocodilia in the Americas. Classification The genus name ''Paleosuchus'' is derived from the Greek ''palaios'' meaning "ancient" and ''soukhos'' meaning "crocodile god Sobek". This refers to the belief that this crocodile comes from an ancient lineage that diverged from other species of caimans some 30 million years ago. At present, ''Paleosuchus'' contains only two members: the smooth-fronted or Schneider's dwarf caiman ('' Paleosuchus trigonatus'') and Cuvier's dwarf caiman ('' Paleosuchus palpebrosus''), both from South America. ''Paleosuchus'' is distinguished from other caimans in the subfamily Caimaninae by the absence of an interorbital ridge and the presence of four teeth in the premaxilla region of the jaw, where other species of caimans have five. The relationships of extant (living) caimans can be shown in the cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Culebrasuchus
''Culebrasuchus'' is an extinct, monotypic genus of caiman alligatorid known from the Early to Middle Miocene (Hemingfordian) of the Panama Canal Zone of Panama. It contains a single species, ''Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus''. Discovery ''Culebrasuchus'' was first described and named by Alexander K. Hastings, Jonathan I. Bloch, Carlos A. Jaramillo, Aldo F. Rincona and Bruce J. Macfadden in 2013 based on a single holotype skull and three neck vertebrae from the Culebra Formation. ''Culebrasuchus'' is thought to be the most basal member of Caimaninae, meaning that it represents the earliest radiation of caimans in the Americas. The ancestor of ''Culebrasuchus'' likely lived farther north, perhaps in what is now southern Mexico, because before the Miocene most of Panama was underwater. The movement of ''Culebrasuchus'' into the Panama Canal Zone was an early part of the Great American Interchange in which animals dispersed between North and South America across the newly formed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Yacare Caiman
The yacare caiman (''Caiman yacare''), also known commonly as the jacare caiman, Paraguayan caiman, piranha caiman, red caiman, and southern spectacled caiman, 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 its population to increase. Its population in the Pantanal is about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
