Caiman: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Subfamily of reptiles}}

{{for For-multi|the genus|Caiman (genus)|other uses}}

A '''caiman''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|eɪ|m|ə|n}}; also '''cayman''' as a variant spelling<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cayman?s=t Dictionary.com, retrieved February 16, 2021]</ref> from [[Taíno language|Taíno]] ''kaiman''<!--K used in reconstructed Taíno vocabulary--><ref>{{cite book|first=Marie-France|last=Patte|chapter= Arawak vs. Lokono. What's in a name?|editor-first= Nicholas |editor-last=Faraclas|title=In a Sea of Heteroglossia: Pluri-Lingualism, Pluri-Culturalism, and Pluri-Identification in the Caribbean|ISBN=978-99904-2-300-6|publisher=Fundashon pa Planifikashon di Idioma & Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen|page=80|location=Curaçao|year=2010}}</ref>{{additional citationscitation needed|date=August 2023}}) is an [[alligatorid]] belonging to the [[subfamily]] '''Caimaninae''', one of two primary lineages within the [[Alligatoridae]] [[family (biology)|family]], the other being [[alligator]]s. Caimans inhabitare [[Mexico]]native andto [[Central America|Central]] &and [[South America]] fromand inhabit [[marsh|marshes]], and[[swamp]]s, swamps[[lake]]s, toand [[mangrove]] rivers and lakes. They have scaly skin and live a fairly nocturnal existence. They are relatively small-sized [[crocodilia]]ns with an average maximum weight of {{convert|6|to|40|kg|lb|abbr=on}} depending on species, with the exception of the [[black caiman]] (''Melanosuchus niger''), which can grow more than {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and weigh in excess of 1,000 &nbsp;kg (2,200 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 {{convert|1.2|to|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long. There are six different species of caiman found throughout the watery jungle habitats of Central and Southern America. The average length for most of the other caiman species is about {{convert|2|to|2.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} long.

Due to thetheir large size and ferocious nature of, caimans, they have few natural predators within their environments. Humans are thetheir main predators, ofbecause caimans, asthe theyanimals have been hunted for their meat and skin. [[Jaguar]]s, [[Eunecteseunectes|anacondas]] and [[Crocodile|crocodilescrocodile]]s are the only other predators of caimans, butalthough they usually prey on the smaller specimens. During summer or droughts, caimans may dig a burrow and go into a form of summer hibernation called [[aestivation]].

Female caimans build a large nest in which to lay their eggs. TheseThe nests can be more than {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide. Female caimans lay between 10 and 50 eggs, which hatch within about six weeks. Once they have hatched, the mother caiman takes her young to a shallow pool of water, where they can learn how to hunt and swim.[[File:Jacare deThe papojuveniles amareloof spectacled caiman have been shown to stay together in pods for up to 18 zoomonths.jpg<ref>{{Cite journal |thumblast=Gorzula |rightfirst=S. J. |[[Broad-snouteddate=1978 caiman]]|title=An Ecological Study of (''Caiman latirostris'')]]crocodilus crocodilus Inhabiting Savanna Lagoons in the Venezuelan Guayana |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4215651 |journal=Oecologia |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=21–34 |issn=0029-8549}}</ref>

Caimaninae is [[Cladistics|cladistically]] defined as ''Caiman crocodylus'' (the [[spectacled caiman]]) and all species closer to it than to ''Alligator mississippiensis'' (the [[American alligator]]).<ref name=BCA03>{{cite journal |last=Brochu |first=C. A. |year=2003 |title=Phylogenetic approaches toward crocodylian history |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=31 |issue=31 |pages=357–97 |doi=10.1146/annurev.earth.31.100901.141308 |bibcode=2003AREPS..31..357B |url=http://www.naherpetology.org/pdf_files/970.pdf |access-date=2021-07-26 |archive-date=2015-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402192747/http://www.naherpetology.org/pdf_files/970.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=NecrosuchusRev>{{Cite journal | last1 = Brochu | first1 = C. A. | doi = 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00716.x | title = Phylogenetic relationships of Necrosuchus ionensis Simpson, 1937 and the early history of caimanines | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 163 | pages = S228–S256 | year = 2011 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This is a [[stem-based taxon|stem-based]] definition for caimaninae, and means that it includes more [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] [[extinct]] caimanine ancestors that are more closely related to living caimans than to [[alligators]].