Brow-browed caiman
| Brow-browed caiman | ||||||||||||
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Brow-fronted caiman ( Paleosuchus palpebrosus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Paleosuchus palpebrosus | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1807) |
The browed smooth-forehead caiman ( Paleosuchus palpebrosus ) is a member of the alligator family .
features
The brow-fronted caiman reaches a maximum body length of about 1.50 meters for the males and about 1.20 meters for the females. Like the only other representative of the smooth-fronted caiman (genus Paleosuchus ), the wedge-headed smooth-fronted caiman ( Paleosuchus trigonatus ), it is a very small crocodile. In contrast to its relative, the snout is very short and the animals have a tall, almost dog-like skull . Other features of the smooth-fronted caimans are the brown eyes and the lack of a bony ridge between the eyes, hence the name of the group. Overall, the body and tail are very ossified.
distribution
The brow-browed caiman lives in the dense rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins as well as the Rio São Francisco , Paraná and Río Paraguay . Its habitat are flooded forest areas in the area of larger lakes and their undergrowth-rich banks. They also live in the gallery forest of the rivers on the edge of the rainforest, but do not penetrate into the Llanos and Pantanal .
Way of life
Browed smooth-forehead caimans build mounds of soil and plant material, which they hide in the undergrowth. Not much more is known about their breeding behavior.
The juveniles and adults probably feed primarily on insects and fish as well as other small vertebrates in the wild .
literature
- Joachim Brock: Crocodiles - A life with armored lizards , Natur und Tier Verlag Münster 1998
- Charles A. Ross (Ed.): Crocodiles and Alligators - Development, Biology and Distribution , Orbis Verlag Niedernhausen 2002
Web links
- Paleosuchus palpebrosus in The Reptile Database
- Paleosuchus palpebrosus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Listed by: Crocodile Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved January 30, 2014.