Caiman

Caiman is a genus of caimans within the alligatorid subfamily Caimaninae. They inhabit Central and South America. They are relatively small sized crocodilians, with all species reaching lengths of only a couple of meters and weighing 6 to 40 kg on average.

Caiman

Lea Maimone · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
caimanPBDB
Sits inside
JacareaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 17 million years on record.

The record covers at least 17.5 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 21 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 28 of 40 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 40 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 10 of 40 occurrencesPleistocene22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.3–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.9–7.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.2–6.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.5–5.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.7–5.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.0–4.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.3–3.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.6–2.9 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences2.9–2.1 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences2.1–1.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.4–717 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences717 ka–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences17.5 Mya129 ka21.5 Mya0 Mya

40 occurrences of Caiman on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

40 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

16 formations

Pebas — 3.99°S, 73.17°WPebas — 7.36°S, 74.96°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WUrumaco — 11.19°N, 70.25°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.22°WEntre Rios — 33.72°S, 59.25°WSolimões — 8.78°S, 68.90°WSolimões — 9.05°S, 68.77°WSolimões — 10.13°S, 67.81°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WSolimoes — 9.07°S, 68.66°WMesa — 9.85°N, 63.33°WPalo Pintado — 25.65°S, 66.07°WPalo Pintado — 25.81°S, 65.48°WVillavieja — 3.22°N, 75.22°WChaco — 24.25°S, 66.92°WSocorro — 11.19°N, 70.15°WArroyo Feliciano — 32.03°S, 60.62°WPiquete — 25.73°S, 64.87°WIpururo — 7.37°S, 74.97°WCastillo — 10.37°N, 70.07°WSan Gregorio — 11.30°N, 70.19°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Caiman has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Caiman and its relatives

Miocene

Where Caiman and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

464 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 29 sites for Caiman, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

25 references

Each of the 40 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 13 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Caiman

Credit
Lea Maimone
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Sequential Section Scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Caiman sclerops · MCZ:SC:3230

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itJacarea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Spix 1825