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Caiman crocodilus (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Caiman crocodilus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAlligatoridae, Crocodylia, crocodiles (alligators) 
SubspeciesCaiman crocodilus fuscus (COPE 1868)
Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis MEDEM 1955
Caiman crocodilus crocodilus (LINNAEUS 1758) 
Common NamesE: Common caiman, Spectacled caiman
G: Brillenkaiman 
SynonymLacerta crocodilus LINNAEUS 1758: 200
Caiman sclerops SCHNEIDER 1801 (fide MEDEM 1981)
Crocodilus sclerops SCHNEIDER 1801 (fide WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977)
Crocodilus sclerops — WIED 1824
Alligator sclerops — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 79
Caiman crocodilus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 40
Caiman crocodilus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 666
Caiman crocodilus — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Caiman crocodylus — LEHR 2002: 69

Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis MEDEM 1955
Caiman sclerops apaporiensis MEDEM 1955
Caiman crocodilus apaporiensis — NICKEL & AULIYA 2004

Caiman crocodilus fuscus (COPE 1868)
Perosuchus fuscus COPE 1868
Alligator (Jacare) chiapasius BOCOURT 1876
Perosuchus fuscus — GRAY 1869: 171
Caiman crocodilus fuscus — NICKEL & AULIYA 2004 
DistributionBrazil (incl. Mato Grosso), Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru (Pasco etc.),
Surinam, French Guiana, Guyana,
Tobago, Trinidad,
Venezuela, Bolivia
Cuba (introduced), Isla de Juventud (=Isla dePinos; introduced),
Puerto Rico (introduced), Lesser Antilles (introduced ?),
USA (introduced to Florida)

Type locality: restricted to Guyana by MERTENS & WERMUTH 1955.

apaporiensis: NW South America (upper Rio Apaporis, between the falls of Jirijirimo and Puerto Yaviya, Colombia); Type locality: upper Rio Apaporis, Commisario Amazonas, Colombia.

chiapasius:

fuscus: S Mexico (Oaxaca), south to NW Colombia (incl. San Andrés); Type locality: “Mittel-Amerika” Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
TypesTYPES: At least 4 Syntypes, 2 in NRM (NHRM) and 2 in ZMUU; the 60cm s-v length discolored and desiccated syntype in the ZMUU, referred to as the "type specimen" by Lönnberg 1896, and as the "holotipo" by Medem 1981, was designated lectotype of Lacerta crocodilus Linnaeus 1758, by Hoogmoed and Gruber 1983: 379 (King & Burke 1989). 
CommentDistribution: Caiman crocodilus may be an occasional vagrant to the Grenada Bank.

Subspecies after MEDEM 1983 and KING & BURKE 1989. Caiman crocodilus chiapasius is listed as a synonym of C. c. fuscus by WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977.

Reproduction: oviparous. 
References
  • Andersson, L.G. 1900. Catalogue of Linnean type-specimens of Linnaeus's Reptilia in the Royal Museum in Stockholm. Bihang till Konglika Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens. Handlingar. Stockholm. (4) 26 (1): 1-29.
  • Armando H. Escobedo Galván. 2006. Temperature variation in nests of Caiman crocodilus (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae). Acta Herpetologica 1 (2)
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  • Bocourt, F. 1876. Note sur quelques reptiles de l'Isthme de Tehuantepec (Mexique) donnés par M. Sumichrast au museum. Journal de Zoologie. Paris. 5 (5-6): 386-411
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