Broad-snouted caiman

Broad-snouted caiman
Temporal range: Late Miocene - Present,
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Alligatoridae
Subfamily: Caimaninae
Clade: Jacarea
Genus: Caiman
Species:
C. latirostris
Binomial name
Caiman latirostris
Daudin, 1801
Broad-snouted caiman range
Synonyms
Species synonymy
  • cynocephalus Dumeril & Bibron, 1836
  • fissipes Spix, 1825
  • lutescens Rovereto, 1912
  • sclerops Wied, 1825

The broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) is a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae found in eastern and central South America, including the Pantanal habitat of Bolivia, Southeast Brazil, and Paraguay, as well as northern Argentina and Uruguay. Behind the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), it is the second-largest caiman species; it is the third-largest alligatorid behind the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the aforementioned black caiman. Primarily, the species inhabits freshwater wetlands, including floodplains, marshes, swamps, and some mangrove forests, as well as various streams, rivers, lakes or ponds, preferring bodies of rather still or slower-moving water. They will often utilize man-made cow ponds, disused stock tanks, and canals and ditches, as well.