In the southwestern range of this species, animals exceeding 4 meters aren’t uncommon. A commonly assessed size for mature male Black Caiman’s here is between 426.7 to 458 cm TL (14-15 ft), but animals in excess of 458 to 500 cm TL (15-16 ft) are also seemingly not that rare.
This quoted post is unavailable.
Predation by Black Caiman is not as well documented as most other large Crocodylians but their predatory behavior has slowly began to be uncovered as more footage surfaces. Young Black Caiman predating upon White Lipped Peccary in Rio Araguaia, Brazil.
Technically Amazon River dolphins could be considered “common” prey as well but GENERALLY it’s only the large adults prey on adult Boto from what I’ve learned. Though ~3m animals certainly at least attempt to predate on them occasionally: youtu.be/qQFdp0_ZTwo?si=6NJj…
These interactions are extremely interesting, occurring both in the wild & captivity among various species. I’ll also add that the Crocodile is not always the aggressor. This older instance was recorded in the same region, Alligator displacing crocodile.
First skull pictured here was from an animal probably more or less ~4.8 meters in length. Discovered by my buddy Cesar Barrios Amoros, it is now the largest known skull for the species and from the long gone historical populace. Their maximum length should be around 5m.
Unfortunately we don’t have a full lateral view for a large Melanosuchus but it gives us a rough idea. Minimum maximum size..
This quoted post is unavailable.
Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus)
A 10 year old adult male with a total length of 1.39m (4 ft 7 inch).
There’s a lot of talk about this interaction so I would like to clear some things. I have confirmed with the photographer that the dolphins are actually adolescents and the caiman is between 3-4m, this was filmed in Rio Itapara, Roraima, Brazil.
Crocodilians are well known for predation on sharks, it is interesting to see this though, goes to show how little crocodilian predation in general is documented despite this possibly being quite common.
