Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Broad-snouted caimans (Caiman latirostris) are found in north­east­ern South Amer­ica. Their ge­o­graphic range ex­tends from north­east Ar­gentina to south­east­ern Bo­livia and Paraguay to the north­ern por­tion of Uruguay. This species thrives in swampy slow-mov­ing fresh­wa­ter and warmer cli­mates. (Brit­ton, 2010; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical
  • native

Habi­tat

Broad-snouted caiman habi­tat over­laps with that of Yacare caimans (Caiman yacare). In places where over­lap oc­curs, C. latirostris has adapted to life in man­groves with heavy veg­e­ta­tion, swamps and they have been in­creas­ingly found in cat­tle stock ponds. They are also often found in drainage ditches from the At­lantic ocean. Both species are found at el­e­va­tions of ap­prox­i­mately 600 m. This seems to be due to their darker col­oration, which al­lows each species to ab­sorb more sun­light and to reg­u­late their body tem­per­a­tures at higher, cooler el­e­va­tions. (Brit­ton, 2010; Pina, 2002; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial
• freshwater

• Aquatic Biomes
• lakes and ponds
• brackish water

• Wetlands
• swamp

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural
• estuarine

• Range elevation

  600 (high) m

  1968.50 (high) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Broad-snouted caimans are medium-sized croc­o­dil­ians with a re­ported max­i­mum length of 3.5 m. Av­er­age length is 2 m in cap­tiv­ity. Com­pared to re­lated species like black caimans (Melanosuchus niger), which can ex­ceed 5m in length, broad-snouted caimans are con­sid­ered small. Their col­oration ranges from black and brown to an olive-green­ish hue. They have a tu­ber­cle, a small pro­jec­tion of the scales, be­tween the eyes. Broad-snouted caimans have soft hides that are one of the most highly cov­eted of all croc­o­dile skins. It is a sub­ject of de­bate wether or not true sub­species ex­ists. Some say Ar­gen­tin­ian pop­u­la­tions of C. latirostris that are small (less than 2m) should be clas­si­fied as C. latirostris cha­coen­sis. (Brit­ton, 2010; Pina, 2002; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• heterothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger

• Range length

  3.5 (high) m

  11.48 (high) ft

• Average length

  2 m

  6.56 ft

De­vel­op­ment

Em­bryos of C. latirostris hatch after 70 days. Em­bryos have a no­to­chord by day 2, blood ves­sels are pre­sent by day 5, and limbs are start­ing to form around day 18. From day 60 on, not much new de­vel­op­ment oc­curs, the yolk sac be­comes nour­ishh­ment for the em­bryo and the yolk scar be­gins to form. Sex is de­ter­mined by tem­per­a­ture. There is a spe­cific pe­riod dur­ing in­cu­ba­tion where the egg can be­come ei­ther sex with the ap­pli­ca­tion or re­duc­tion of heat. After this tem­per­a­ture sen­si­tive pe­riod the sex can no longer be changed. All C. latirostris eggs in­cu­bated at tem­per­a­tures of 29 to 31 de­grees be­come fe­males, while hatch­lings in­cu­bated at 33 de­grees are all males. (Iung­man, et al., 2008; Pina and Lar­ri­era, 2003)

• Development - Life Cycle
• temperature sex determination

Re­pro­duc­tion

Mat­ing be­hav­ior in broad-snouted caimans is not well de­scribed in the lit­er­a­ture. (Pina and Lar­ri­era, 2003; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Each clutch con­tains be­tween 20 and 50 eggs. Nest pre­da­tion de­creases clutch size and some­times larger broad-snouted caimans will eat hatch­lings and eggs. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod is about 70 days. The ges­ta­tional pe­riod has been bro­ken down in 28 phases or steps of de­vel­op­ment that mon­i­tor size and the spe­cial­iza­tion of tis­sues. It is thought that the first rains may stim­u­late ovu­la­tion in fe­male broad-snouted caimans. Other croc­o­dil­ians of sim­i­lar size to C. latirostris have hatch­lings that mea­sure an av­er­age of 30 g at birth. (Lar­ri­era, et al., 2006; Ver­dade, 2008)

The age of sex­ual re­pro­duc­tion is not yet known, though fe­males as young a 4 years, 10 months have laid eggs. The hatch­lings emerge as small ver­sions of ma­ture broad-snouted caimans. (Pina and Lar­ri­era, 2003)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• induced ovulation
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Broad snouted caimans breed during the rainy season each year. It is thought that the first rains stimualte ovulation in females.

• Breeding season

  Breeding and nesting vary by region. In Brazil, breeding occurs from August to January. In Uruguay they breed in January and, in Argentina, these caimans breed from January to March.

• Range number of offspring

  20 to 50

• Average number of offspring

  30

• Average gestation period

  70 days

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  4 to 10 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  5 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  4 to 6 years

Though broad-snouted caiman moth­ers in­vest in their young through sup­ply­ing eggs with nu­tri­tion and build­ing and pro­tect­ing nests, it is un­known how long that in­vest­ment lasts or when in­de­pen­dence is achieved. A fe­male C. latirostris is very pro­tec­tive of her nest and will guard it with some help from the fa­ther (only seen in cap­tive pop­u­la­tions). Hatch­lings com­mu­ni­cate with their mother through hatch­ing calls a few days prior to hatch­ing. Sim­i­lar to other rep­tiles, they have an egg tooth on the top of the snout, with which they chip at the egg. Moth­ers may gen­tly take the egg in her jaws and apply slight pres­sure in order to help crack the egg. There may be some pro­tec­tion of young after hatch­ing, as in other croc­o­dil­ians. (Amavet, et al., 2009)

• Parental Investment
• male parental care
• female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • protecting
    • male
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Broad-snouted caimans have been re­ported to live 22 years (max­i­mum lifes­pan) in cap­tiv­ity. (Snider and Bowler, 1992)

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  22 (high) years

Be­hav­ior

Broad-snouted caimans are prized for their ul­tra-soft hides and have been sought after by hunters for the last 100 years. As a re­sult, a large por­tion of broad-snouted caimans today live in cap­tive ranch­ing pro­grams in South Amer­ica. Much less is known about broad-snouted caimans in the wild. A re­cent ob­ser­va­tion of this species in the wild, how­ever, de­scribed its ex­hi­bi­tion of pas­sive feed­ing be­hav­ior. One caiman sat, mouth open, under a small flow of water. Every few min­utes, prey would land in its mouth and it would close and swal­low. More re­search will be con­ducted, as this was only ob­served in one in­di­vid­ual.

It has been sug­gested that there may be dif­fer­ences in be­hav­ior be­tween cap­tive and wild pop­u­la­tions. For ex­am­ple, in cap­tive pop­u­la­tions, C. latirostris males some­times aid fe­males with nest-build­ing. This be­hav­ior has never been doc­u­mented in wild pop­u­la­tions. (Pina, et al., 2003; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Key Behaviors
• natatorial
• crepuscular
• motile
• sedentary
• aestivation
• solitary
• territorial
• dominance hierarchies

Home Range

These croc­o­dil­ians are thought to have a es­tab­lished home ranges, as they are highly ter­ri­to­r­ial when ap­proached. How­ever, ter­ri­tory size has not yet been doc­u­mented.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Spe­cific in­for­ma­tion on broad-snouted caimans is not avail­able. Croc­o­dil­ian com­mu­ni­ca­tion has re­ceived rel­a­tively lit­tle study. How­ever, among sev­eral species, dif­fer­ent calls have been iden­ti­fied. It is known that croc­o­dil­ians com­mu­ni­cate acousti­cally and that most noises are short, mono­syl­labic, and very repet­i­tive. They be­come less vocal as they ma­ture.

There are two vari­a­tions of calls, those of ju­ve­niles and those of adults. Ju­ve­niles emit hatch­ing calls, which in­clude the noises that can be heard pre-hatch­ing. These calls func­tion to main­tain syn­chrony among hatch­lings. One hatched they emit con­tact calls which aid in lo­ca­tion and keep­ing them close to­gether. Hatch­lings also dis­plays dis­tress calls that may in­duce parental pro­tec­tion.

Among the adult pop­u­la­tion, com­mu­ni­ca­tion dwin­dles with ma­tu­rity, though au­di­ble com­mu­ni­ca­tion is a large part of courtship rit­u­als. Mates will bel­low dur­ing cour­ship, usu­ally when the croc­o­dile is in the water. Ma­ter­nal growls are the way in which moth­ers com­mu­ni­cate with their hatch­lings while still in the egg and is thought to fa­cil­i­tate off­spring recog­ni­tion. Hisses may be used when the mother in de­fend­ing her nest against preda­tors, and may ac­tu­ally deter preda­tors. (Brit­ton, 2010; Kelly, 2006; Lar­ri­era, et al., 2004; Lar­ri­era, et al., 2006; Pina, et al., 2007a; Pina, et al., 2007b; Pina, 2002; Pina, et al., 2003)

• Communication Channels
• acoustic

• Other Communication Modes
• vibrations

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• vibrations
• chemical

Food Habits

Broad-snouted caimans have a di­verse diet con­sist­ing of aquatic snails, small fish, and am­phib­ians. As they ma­ture, they are able to eat larger prey, such as larger fish, rep­tiles, and am­phib­ians. The broad snout of these caimans are well-suited for crush­ing mol­lusc shells. (Brit­ton, 2010; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • eats terrestrial vertebrates
  • piscivore
  • molluscivore

• Animal Foods
• amphibians
• reptiles
• fish
• insects
• mollusks
• aquatic crustaceans

Pre­da­tion

The only preda­tor of ma­ture broad-snouted caimans ap­pears to be hu­mans. Broad-snouted caimans are in high de­mand be­cause of their skin, which is one of the soft­est avail­able. They were poached nearly to ex­tinc­tion in the early's 1990's but have made a sig­nif­i­cant re­cov­ery due to ranch­ing pro­grams, like Proyecto Yacare in Ar­gentina. Ranch­ing pro­grams har­vest eggs and raise hatch­lings to be rein­tro­duced into the wild. Eggs and young broad-snouted caimans may be eaten by a wide va­ri­ety of medium to large sized preda­tors. Broad-snouted caimans are cryp­ti­cally col­ored to pre­vent preda­tors and prey from see­ing them. (Brit­ton, 2010; Pina and Lar­ri­era, 2003; Pina, et al., 2003)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • humans (Homo sapiens)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Lit­tle is known about the roles these croc­o­dil­ians play in their ecosys­tem. They are likely to be im­por­tant preda­tors of small an­i­mals in their aquatic habi­tats. (Si­moncini, et al., 2009; Si­moncini, et al., 2009)

• Ecosystem Impact
• creates habitat

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Broad-snouted caimans are prized for their ul­tra-soft hides. Hunt­ing in the 1990's led to se­vere pop­u­la­tion de­clines. This species was placed on the En­dan­gered Species List in 1994. They are now mak­ing a re­cov­ery due to ranch­ing pro­grams. (Brit­ton, 2010; Lar­ri­era, et al., 2006; Ver­dade, 2008)

• Positive Impacts
• body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

In areas where their habi­tat over­laps with C. yacare, C. latirostris has col­o­nized cat­tle stock ponds. Here they are con­sid­ered a po­ten­tial nui­sance for farm­ers and their live­stock. (Iung­man, et al., 2008)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Com­mer­cial hunt­ing has threat­ened wild pop­u­la­tions of C. latirostris. Most hunt­ing oc­curs for its skin, es­pe­cially well-suited to tan­ning. Their skin is con­sid­ered more valu­able that that of other species of caiman. Caiman latirostris was placed on the En­dan­gered Species List in 1994, as pop­u­la­tions de­clined with over-hunt­ing. This species con­tin­ues to be listed in CITES Ap­pen­dix I (threat­ened with ex­tinc­tion) through­out its nat­ural range, ex­cept in Ar­gentina, where pop­u­la­tions have begun to re­bound in re­sponse to ranch­ing pro­grams like Proyecto Yacare. As a re­sult of ranch­ing pro­grams, Ar­gen­tin­ian pop­u­la­tions have been el­e­vated to Ap­pen­dix II sta­tus (no longer threat­ened with ex­tinc­tion, but a species for which trade needs to be con­trolled). Some il­le­gal hunt­ing of C. latirostris still oc­curs, but is con­sid­ered less of a threat than in the past, be­cause other species are more read­ily avail­able for hunt­ing. The size of wild C. latirostris pop­u­la­tions is es­ti­mated at ap­prox­i­mately 250,000 to 500,000 in­di­vid­u­als. Cur­rently, habi­tat de­struc­tion and water pol­lu­tion are the great­est threat to C. latirostris pop­u­la­tions, most no­tably de­for­esta­tion for agri­cul­ture (land clear­ing and drain­ing) and hy­dro­elec­tric power through­out its range in Brazil and Uruguay. (Brit­ton, 2010; Pina and Lar­ri­era, 2003)

• IUCN Red List

  Lower Risk - Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Lower Risk - Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  Endangered

• CITES

  Appendix I Appendix II

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Kelsey Ray­burn (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Chris­tine Small (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

Amavet, P., E. Rosso, R. Markar­i­ani, C. Pina. 2008. Mi­crosatel­lite DNA Mark­ers Ap­plied to De­tec­tion of Mul­ti­ple Pa­ter­nity in C. latirostris in Santa Fe, Ar­gentina. Jour­nal or Ex­per­i­men­tal Zo­ol­ogy, 309A: 637-642.

Amavet, P., J. Vil­lardi, E. Rosso, B. Said­man. 2009. Ge­netic and Mor­pho­me­t­ric Vari­abil­ity in Caiman latirostris (broad-snouted caiman). Jour­nal of Ex­per­i­men­tal Zo­ol­ogy, 311A/4: 258-269.

Brit­ton, A. 2010. "Croc­o­dil­ian Species - Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris)" (On-line). Croc­o­dil­ians: Nat­ural His­tory & Con­ser­va­tion: Crocodilian.​com. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 10, 2010 at http://​www.​flmnh.​ufl.​edu/​cnhc/​csp_​clat.​htm.

Iung­man, J., C. Pina, P. Siroski. 2008. Em­bry­olog­i­cal De­vel­op­ment of Caiman latirostris. Gen­e­sis, 46: 401-417.

Kelly, L. 2006. Evo­lu­tion's Great­est Sur­vivor Croc­o­dile. Crows Nest, Aus­tralia: Allen and Unwin.

Lar­ri­era, A., C. Pina, P. Siroski, L. Ver­dade. 2004. Al­lom­e­try of Re­pro­duc­tion in Wild Broad-Snouted Caimans (Caiman latirostris). So­ci­ety for the Study of Am­phib­ians and Rep­tiles, 38/2: 301-304.

Lar­ri­era, A., P. Siroski, C. Pina, A. Imhof. 2006. Sex­ual Ma­tu­rity of Farm-Re­leased Caiman latirostris (Croc­o­dylia: Al­li­ga­tori­dae) in the Wild. Hep­re­to­log­i­cal Re­view, 37/1: 26-28.

Pina, C., A. Lar­ri­era, M. Cabr­era. 2003. Ef­fect of In­cu­ba­tion Tem­per­a­ture on In­cu­ba­tion Pe­riod, Sex Ratio, Hatch­ing Suc­cess, and Sur­vivor­ship in Caiman latirostris. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 37/1: 199-202.

Pina, C., P. Siroski, A. Lar­ri­era, V. Lance, L. Ver­dade. 2007. The tem­per­a­ture-sen­si­tive pe­riod (TSP) dur­ing in­cu­ba­tion of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) eggs. Am­phibia-Rep­tilia, 28: 123-128.

Pina, C. 2002. Ther­moreg­u­la­tion. Her­peto­log­i­cal Re­view, 33/2: 133.

Pina, C., A. Lar­ri­era. 2003. Croc­o­dylia. Her­peto­log­i­cal Re­view, 34/1: 72.

Pina, C., A. Lar­ri­era, M. Med­ina, G. Webb. 2007. Ef­fects of In­cu­ba­tion Tem­per­a­ture on the Size of Caiman latirostris (Croc­o­dylia: Al­li­ga­tori­dae) at Hatch­ing and after One Year. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 41/2: 205-210.

Po­letta, G., A. Lar­i­erra, E. Klein­sorge, M. Mudry. 2007. Caiman latirostris (broad-snouted caiman) as a sen­tinel or­gan­ism for geno­toxic mon­i­tor­ing: Basal val­ues de­ter­mi­na­tion of mi­cronu­cleus and comet assay. Sci­ence Di­rect:Col­lege Edi­tion, 650/2: 202-209.

Si­moncini, M., C. Pina, P. Siroski. 2009. Clutch size of Caiman latirostris (Croc­o­dylia: Al­li­ga­tori­dae) varies on a lat­i­tu­di­nal gra­di­ent. North-West­ern Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 5/1: 191-196.

Snider, A., J. Bowler. 1992. Longevity of rep­tiles and am­phib­ians in North Amer­i­can col­lec­tions, 2nd edi­tion. Ox­ford, OH: So­ci­ety for the Study of Am­phib­ians and Rep­tiles.

Ver­dade, L. 2008. "Species List-Caiman Latirostris" (On-line). Croc­o­dile Spe­cial­ist Group. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 02, 2010 at http://​iucncsg.​org/​ph1/​modules/​Home/​.