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Caiman

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Description

A caiman is an alligatorid crocodilian belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within Alligatoridae, the other being alligators.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiman, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	5220195	https://www.gbif.org/species/5220195
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	173279	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=173279

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : Caiman

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : Caiman

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Archosauromorpha
-	Crocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
-	Eucrocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauria
-	Pseudosuchia
-	Suchia	Krebs 1974
-	Paracrocodylomorpha	Parrish 1993
-	Loricata
-	Crocodylomorpha
suborder	Crocodyliformes	Hay 1930
-	Mesoeucrocodylia	Whetstone and Whybrow 1983
-	Neosuchia	Clark 1988
suborder	Eusuchia	Huxley 1875
-	Crocodylia
-	Brevirostres	Cuvier
superfamily	Alligatoroidea	Gray 1844
-	Globidonta	Brochu 1999
family	Alligatoridae	Gray 1844
-	Caimaninae	Brochu 1999
-	Jacarea
genus	Caiman	Spix 1825

Common Name

caiman

Scientific Name

Caiman Spix, 1825

Name Published In

Lacert. Brasil.

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Caiman	genus	belongs to Alligatoridae	stated without evidence	Frank and Ramus, 1996
Caiman	genus	belongs to Jacarea	stated with evidence	Brochu, 1999
Caiman	genus	belongs to Alligatoridae	stated without evidence	Lang and Guilette, 2002
Caiman	genus	belongs to Caimaninae	stated with evidence	Bona, 2007
Caiman	genus	belongs to Globidonta	stated without evidence	Martin and Buffetaut, 2008
Caiman	genus	belongs to Alligatoridae	stated with evidence	Riff et al., 2010
Caiman	genus	belongs to Caimaninae	stated with evidence	Brochu, 2010
Caiman	genus	belongs to Alligatoroidea	stated without evidence	Puértolas et al., 2011
Caiman	genus	belongs to Caimaninae	stated without evidence	Hastings et al., 2013
Caiman	genus	belongs to Jacarea	stated with evidence	Pinheiro et al., 2013

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

Extant Size (PBDB)

5 (45%)

First Recorded Appearance

23.0 - 16.0 Ma
Miocene

Environment

marine (based on Mesoeucrocodylia)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

carnivore (based on Crocodylia)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

C. C. Mook. 1921. Individual and age variations in the skulls of Recent Crocodilia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 44(7):51-66

Common Name(s)

Caimans, Caiman

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiman

External Images

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Caiman australis ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		2	11.6 Ma Miocene	9.00 Ma Miocene
Caiman brevirostris ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	11.6 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Caiman crocodilus species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Common Caiman	1	2.59 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Caiman gasparinae ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	9.00 Ma Miocene	9.00 Ma Miocene
Caiman latirostris species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Broud-snouted Caiman	6	11.6 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Caiman niteroiensis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Caiman paranensis ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		1	11.6 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Caiman praecursor ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		1	11.6 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Caiman sclerops species	listed (PBDB)	Common Caiman			0 Ma Extant
Caiman venezuelensis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Caiman wannlangstoni ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		4	16.0 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Caiman yacare species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	9.00 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Crocodilus australis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Crocodilus paranensis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Jacaretinga praecursor species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Obsolete Names

Name	Source	Taxon Rank	Taxonomy
Perosuchus Cope, 1868	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : *Perosuchus*
Jacare Gray, 1844	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : *Jacare*
Champsa Wagler, 1830	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : *Champsa*
Champa Agassiz, 1846	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Crocodylia : Alligatoridae : *Champa*

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1825	Caiman Spix
1825	Jacaretinga Spix
1996	Caiman Frank and Ramus
1999	Caiman Brochu
2002	Caiman Lang and Guilette p. 213
2007	Caiman Bona
2008	Caiman Jouve et al.

Year	Name and Author
2008	Caiman Martin and Buffetaut
2010	Caiman Brochu
2010	Caiman Riff et al.
2011	Caiman Puértolas et al.
2013	Caiman Hastings et al.
2013	Caiman Pinheiro et al.

References

Mook C. C. (1921) Individual and age variations in the skulls of Recent Crocodilia, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 44 7, 51-66

Frank N., Ramus E. (1996) A Complete Guide to Scientific and Common Names of Reptiles and Amphibians of the World, 1-377

Brochu C. A. (1999) Phylogenetics, Taxonomy, and Historical Biogeography of Alligatoroidea, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19 S2, 9-100

Lang J. W., Guilette L. J. (2002) Crocodilians, The New Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians, 212-223

Bona P. (2007) A new species of Eocaiman Simpson (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) from the Lower Paleocene of Patagonia [Una nueva especie de Eocaiman Simpson (Crododylia, Alligatoridae) del Paleoceno Inferior de Patagonia], Ameghiniana 44 2, 435-445

Jouve S., Bardet N., et al (2008) The oldest African crocodylomorph: phylogeny, paleobiogeography, and differential survivorship of marine reptiles through the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 2, 409-421

Martin J. E., Buffetaut E. (2008) Crocodilus affuvelensis Matheron, 1869 from the Late Cretaceous of southern France: a reassessment, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 152, 567-580

Brochu C. A. (2010) A new alligatorid from the lower Eocene Green River Formation of Wyoming and the origin of caimans, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 4, 1109-1126

Riff D., Romano P. S., et al (2010) Neogene crocodile and turtle fauna in northern South America, Amazonia: Landscape and Species Evolution: A look into the past, 259-280

Puértolas E., Canudo J. I., et al (2011) A new crocodylian from the late Maastrichtian of Spain: Implications for the initial radiation of crocodyloids, PLoS One 6 6, e20011:1-12 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020011

Hastings A. K., Bloch J. I., et al (2013) Systematics and biogeography of crocodylians from the Miocene of Panama, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 2, 239-263

Pinheiro A. E. P., Fortier D. C., et al (2013) A new Eocaiman (Alligatoridae, Crocodylia) from the Itaborai Basin, Paleogene of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Historical Biology 25 3, 327-337 doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.705838

Flores-Villela, Oscar / McCoy, C. J., ed., 1993: Herpetofauna Mexicana: Lista anotada de las especies de anfibios y reptiles de México, cambios taxonómicos recientes, y nuevas especies. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication, no. 17. iv + 73. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

CoL2006 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Lacert. Brasil. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes, 2004: null. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada, draft (2004). - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

King, F. W., and R. L. Burke, eds., 1989: null. Crocodilian, Tuatara, and Turtle Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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