View source for Yacare caiman

{{Short description|Species of reptile}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Yacare caiman
| fossil_range = [[Late Miocene]] – [[Holocene|Present]], {{fossilrange|11.6|0|ref=<ref name="Rio2021">{{cite journal |last1=Rio |first1=Jonathan P. |last2=Mannion |first2=Philip D. |date=6 September 2021 |title=Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem |journal=[[PeerJ]] |volume=9 |article-number=e12094 |doi=10.7717/peerj.12094 |pmid=34567843 |pmc=8428266 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}}
| image = Yacare Caiman (Caiman Yacare) - Flickr - berniedup.jpg
| image_caption = [[Mato Grosso]], Brazil
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Campos, Z. |author2=Llobet, A. |author3=Magnusson, W.E. |author4=Piña, C. |date=2020 |title=''Caiman yacare'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T46586A3009881 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T46586A3009881.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org|archive-date=2017-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205014647/https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Caiman
| species = yacare
| authority = [[François Marie Daudin|Daudin]], 1802
| range_map = The_range_of_the_Yacare_caiman.png
| range_map_caption = Range (black)
| synonyms = *''Crocodilus yacare'' <br />{{small|Daudin, 1802}}
*''Caiman yacare'' <br />{{small|— [[Karl Patterson Schmidt|Schmidt]], 1928}}
*''Jacaretinga crocodilus yacare'' <br />{{small|— [[Franz Werner|F. Werner]], 1933}}
*''Caiman crocodilus yacare'' <br />{{small|— [[Lorenz Müller|L. Müller]] & [[:de:Walter Hellmich (Herpetologe)|Hellmich]], 1936}}
*''Caiman yacare'' <br />{{small|— [[:es:José Miguel Alfredo María Cei|Cei]], 1993}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{EMBL species|genus=Caiman|species=yacare}}</ref>
}}

The '''yacare caiman''' ('''''Caiman yacare'''''), also known [[Common name|commonly]] as the '''jacare caiman''', '''Paraguayan caiman''', '''piranha caiman''', '''red caiman''',<ref name="beardsley" /> and '''southern spectacled caiman''',<ref name="crocodilian" /> is a [[species]] of [[Caiman (genus)|caiman]], a [[crocodilia]]n in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Alligatoridae]]. The species is indigenous to [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]], and [[Paraguay]]. Brown in color and covered with dark blotches, males grow to a total length (including tail) of {{cvt|2–3|m}} and weigh around {{cvt|40|-|50|kg}}; while females grow to {{cvt|1.4|m}} long and about {{cvt|15|–|20|kg}}.<ref name="growth" /> Typical habitats of this caiman include lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Its diet primarily consists of aquatic animals, such as snails, and occasionally land vertebrates. Mating occurs in the rainy season and eggs hatch in March, with young fending for themselves as soon as they hatch. The yacare caiman was hunted heavily for its skin to use for leather in the 1980s, which caused its population to decrease significantly. However, trading restrictions placed since have caused its population to increase. Its population in the [[Pantanal]] is about 10 million, and it is listed as [[Least-concern species|least concern]] on the [[IUCN Red List]].

==Taxonomy==
[[François Marie Daudin]] originally [[scientific description|described]] the yacare caiman in 1802 as ''Crocodilus yacare''.<ref name="biology" />{{rp|7}} Its [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]], ''yacare'', comes from the word ''jacaré'', which means "alligator" in Old Tupi and then assimilated into Portuguese.<ref name="crocodilian" />

The yacare caiman is one of three [[extant taxon|extant]] (living) species of the genus ''[[Caiman (genus)|Caiman]]'', the other two being the [[Spectacled caiman]] (''Caiman crocodilus'') and the [[Broad-snouted caiman]] (''Caiman latirostris''). There are also several [[extinct]] fossil species in the [[genus]] ''Caiman'', possibly up to eight species. The yacare caiman is a member of the caiman [[subfamily]] [[Caimaninae]], and is one of six living species of caiman.

As of 2010, the exact relationship between the yacare caiman and related species is unclear and complicated. There have been attempts to analyze this relationship, but these have not produced definite conclusions. It is sometimes considered a [[subspecies]] of the [[spectacled caiman]] (''Caiman crocodilus''), which would make its scientific name ''Caiman crocodilus yacare''. These two species are the same [[morphology (biology)|morphologically]], but are considered separate species due to their geographical differences.<ref name="action" />{{rp|24}} Its relationship to the spectacled caiman and the other extant caimans can be shown in the [[cladogram]] below, based on molecular DNA-based [[phylogenetic]] studies:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bittencourt |first1=Pedro Senna |last2=Campos |first2=Zilca |last3=Muniz |first3=Fabio de Lima |last4=Marioni |first4=Boris |last5=Souza |first5=Bruno Campos |last6=Da Silveira |first6=Ronis |last7=de Thoisy |first7=Benoit |last8=Hrbek |first8=Tomas |last9=Farias |first9=Izeni Pires |date=22 March 2019 |title=Evidence of cryptic lineages within a small South American crocodilian: the Schneider's dwarf caiman ''Paleosuchus trigonatus'' (Alligatoridae: Caimaninae) |journal=[[PeerJ]] |volume=7 |article-number=e6580 |doi=10.7717/peerj.6580 |pmid=30931177 |pmc=6433001 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
{{clade
 |label1=[[Alligatoridae]]
 |1={{clade
  |label1=[[Caimaninae]]
  |1={{clade
   |1={{clade
    |1=''Paleosuchus palpebrosus'' [[Cuvier's dwarf caiman]]
    |2=''Paleosuchus trigonatus'' [[Schneider's dwarf caiman]] }}
   |label2=[[Jacarea]]
   |2={{clade
    |1={{clade
     |1={{clade
      |1=''Caiman crocodilus'' [[Spectacled caiman]]
      |2=''Caiman yacare'' '''Yacare caiman''' }}
     |2=''Caiman latirostris'' [[Broad-snouted caiman]] }}
    |2=''Melanosuchus niger'' [[Black caiman]] }} }}
  |label2=[[Alligatorinae]]
  |2={{clade
   |1=''Alligator sinensis'' [[Chinese alligator]]
   |2=''Alligator mississippiensis'' [[American alligator]] }} }} }}

==Description==
''C. yacare'' is a medium-sized caiman, brown in color.<ref name="beardsley" /> Male specimens grow to {{cvt|2|–|3|m}} in total length (including tail) and up to {{cvt|58|kg}} in weight. Females are much smaller, with an adult total length of {{cvt|1.4|m}} and weight of {{cvt|14|–|23|kg}}.<ref name="fao" /><ref name="biology" />{{rp|7}} The average [[snout–vent length]] (SVL) of hatchlings is {{cvt|12.49|cm}} for females and {{cvt|12.84|cm}} for males.<ref name="growth" /> ''[[National Geographic]]'' has described young individuals as "look(ing) like nothing more than tiny, windblown seeds floating amid the rushes at the edge of a lagoon in Brazil's remote interior."<ref name="geographic" /> Based on a study of the growth of multiple specimens in the [[Pantanal]] from 1987 to 2013, both sexes are about {{cvt|50|cm}} SVL at age five. By age 15, they have mostly finished growth, with females being about {{cvt|80|cm}} SVL and males over {{cvt|100|cm}} SVL. The study also showed that individuals have significant variation in their growth rates.<ref name="growth" />

Dark marks are distributed across the body; most noticeably, its lower jaw is covered with three to five blotches. It has a smooth snout, which is medium in length and broad. It has lumps on its eyelids and a curved ridge between its eyes.<ref name="biology" />{{rp|7}} It has [[osteoderm]]s on its scales, a feature also present in the spectacled caiman. It has an average of 74 teeth, with 5 pre-maxillary, 14–15 maxillary, and 17–21 mandibular.<ref name="crocodilian" /> Some of the teeth on its lower jaw can poke through holes in its upper jaw.<ref name="biology" />{{rp|7}} This feature makes its teeth more prominent and has been compared to [[piranha]]s, which has established the common name "piranha caiman".<ref name="beardsley" />

<gallery widths="300px" heights="250px">
File:Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) juvenile.JPG|A juvenile, about one month old, in the [[Pantanal]], Brazil
File:Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) 2.jpg|An up-close view of the head and frontal body, with its dark blotches visible
File:Taxidermy specimen of an Wetland alligator (Caiman yacare).jpg|Taxidermied specimen
File:Wetland alligator heart.jpg|Heart displayed at the [[Museum of Veterinary Anatomy FMVZ USP]]
</gallery>

== Ecology ==
The yacare caiman is ecologically similar to the spectacled caiman.<ref name="action" />{{rp|23}} It lives in semi-aquatic habitats, including lakes, rivers, and wetlands,<ref name="crocodilian" /> but is able to adapt to a variety of habitats. Individuals sometimes move to different locations in groups if their habitat is disturbed.<ref name="action" />{{rp|24}} The species' diet consists of aquatic animals, such as snails and fish, and occasionally snakes.<ref name="crocodilian" /> It has also been known to eat [[capybara]]s.<ref name="geographic" /> When hunting for snails, this caiman looks within vegetation floating in water and uses its jaws to break the shells of the snails.<ref name="beardsley" /> In July 1986, the stomach of a specimen in Bolivia was observed to be full of mud, along with small parts of eggshells that likely belonged to a caiman. In general, crocodilians can eat the eggshells of their own young subsequent to the young hatching.<ref name="museum" />

Breeding usually occurs in December–February, in the middle of the rainy season.<ref name="crocodilian" /> Nests are constructed by the females, built in a mound shape using mud and rotting vegetation.<ref name="beardsley" /> The species can lay as many as 44 eggs, but it most commonly lays 22–35, with the exact number often depending on the habitat type.<ref name="action" />{{rp|24}} It often exhibits multiple paternity, more so than several other crocodilian species.<ref name="mating" /> Females usually protect nests during incubation, but do so less when the human hunting pressure is high, ultimately causing a lower hatching success rate.<ref name="action" />{{rp|24}} Eggs hatch in March.<ref name="crocodilian" /> Young exhibit [[precociality]], receiving very little help from their parents and having to care for themselves.<ref name="beardsley" /> They hide in grasses in the daytime, as [[heron]]s and [[stork]]s can eat young caimans.<ref name="geographic" /> Females become sexually mature at age 10–15.<ref name="growth" /> Similar species of the yacare caiman live to about age 50, which has been used as an estimate for this caiman's lifespan, but its exact lifespan is unknown.<ref name="beardsley" />

<gallery widths="300px" heights="200px">
File:Wood stork (Mycteria americana) and Yacare caiman.jpg|Storks, such as this [[wood stork]] (right), can prey on juveniles (left).
File:Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare).JPG|An adult resting in the sun
File:Pantanal caiman JF.jpg|Fish are a major part of the caiman's diet.
File:3 Jaguars killing a Caiman, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas Thomas-Fuhrmann.jpg|[[Jaguar]]s occasionally prey on caiman.
</gallery>

== Distribution and conservation ==
[[File:Yacare_Caimans_(Caiman_yacare)_-_Flickr_-_berniedup.jpg|220x124px|thumb|right|Group of Yacare Caiman in Mato Grosso, Brazil]]

The range of the yacare caiman includes Argentina (north), Bolivia, Brazil (south), and Paraguay.<ref name="fao" /> It is one of three species of genus ''Caiman'' in South America, the others being the [[broad-snouted caiman]] (''C. latirostris'') and the [[spectacled caiman]] (''C. crocodilus''), with more easterly and northerly ranges, respectively. The yacare caiman is one of the most common species on its continent.<ref name="mating" />

In the 1980s, the species was "heading for oblivion" due to frequently being hunted for its skin;<ref name="geographic" /> hunters often went to water holes containing many yacare caimans and shot large numbers of them. They utilized the skin for leather and left the other parts of the carcasses at the water holes.<ref name="geographic" /> Although the species is covered with bony [[osteoderm]]s, which had previously made it uncommon to be hunted for leather, it has some less bony spots which can be used for leather.<ref name="biology" />{{rp|582}} This practice caused the caiman's population to drop by the millions. In 1992, a ban was issued in Brazil that prohibited the trading of crocodilian skins. This resulted in a significant increase in its population, with about 10 million specimens living in the Pantanal alone as of 2013.<ref name="geographic" /> Current threats of the yacare caiman include deforestation, tourism, construction of dams and seaports, and illegal hunting.<ref name="geographic" /> The species reproduces quickly, which makes it less susceptible to hunting pressure.<ref name="crocodilian" />

The [[IUCN Red List]] designated the yacare caiman a species of least concern in 1996.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is listed as threatened by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] as of June 5, 2000, after having been listed as endangered since June 2, 1970.<ref name="federal" /> As of 2010, it is listed as an [[CITES#Appendix II|Appendix II]] species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.<ref name="action" />{{rp|23}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="fao">{{cite web |title=3.3 Caimans |url=http://www.fao.org/3/T0750E/t0750e0b.htm |website=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] of the United Nations |access-date=2019-02-27 |archive-date=2017-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311111615/http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0750E/t0750e0b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="crocodilian">{{cite web |last1=Britton |first1=Adam |title=Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare) |url=http://crocodilian.com/cnhc/csp_cyac.htm |website=Crocodilians: Natural History and Conservation |access-date=27 February 2019 |archive-date=4 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104070230/http://crocodilian.com/cnhc/csp_cyac.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="geographic">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Roff |title=Brazil's Yacare Caiman&nbsp;— The Comeback Croc |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/07/yacare-caiman/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228065745/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/07/yacare-caiman/ |archive-date=February 28, 2019 |access-date=27 February 2019 |work=[[National Geographic]] |date=July 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="federal">{{cite journal |author1=Fish and Wildlife Service |title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification of Yacare Caiman in South America From Endangered to Threatened, and the Listing of Two Other Caiman Species as Threatened by Reason of Similarity of Appearance |journal=[[Federal Register]] |date=May 4, 2000 |pages=25867–25881 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/05/04/00-11055/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-reclassification-of-yacare-caiman-in-south-america |access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="action">{{cite book |last1=Campos |first1=Z. |last2=Llobet |first2=A. |last3=Piña |first3=C. I. |last4=Magnusson |first4=W. E. |last5=Manolis |first5=C. S. |last6=Stevenson |first6=C. |title=Crocodiles: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |date=2010 |publisher=Crocodile Specialist Group |pages=23–28 |edition=third |url=https://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/05_C-78894f16.pdf |access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="biology">{{cite book |last1=Grigg |first1=Gordon |title=Biology and Evolution of Crocodylians |date=January 15, 2015 |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4863-0067-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0mYlBgAAQBAJ |access-date=27 February 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="beardsley">{{cite web |title=Yacare Caiman |url=http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/project/yacare-caiman/ |website=[[Beardsley Zoo]] |access-date=28 February 2019 |archive-date=5 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305043058/http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/project/yacare-caiman/ }}</ref>
<ref name="museum">{{cite web |last1=King |first1=F. Wayne |last2=Godshalk |first2=Robert |title=Mud, Root Balls, and Other Tasty Tidbits in Crocodilian Stomach |year=2003 |url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/herpetology/links/tasty-tidbits-crocodilian-stomachs/ |website=[[Florida Museum of Natural History]] |access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="growth">{{cite journal |last1=Campos |first1=Zilca |last2=Mourão |first2=Guilherme |last3=Coutinho |first3=Marcos |last4=Magnusson |first4=William E. |title=Growth of ''Caiman crocodilus yacare'' in the Brazilian Pantanal |journal=[[PLOS One]] |date=February 28, 2014 |volume=9 |issue=2 |article-number=e89363 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0089363 |pmid=24586719|pmc=3938444 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...989363C |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name="mating">{{cite journal |last1=Ojeda |first1=Guillermo N. |last2=Amavet |first2=Patricia C. |last3=Rueda |first3=Eva C. |last4=Siroski |first4=Pablo A. |last5=Larriera |first5=Alejandro |title=Mating System of ''Caiman yacare'' (Reptilia: Alligatoridae) Described from Microsatellite Genotypes |journal=[[Journal of Heredity]] |date=March 1, 2017 |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=135–141 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esw080|pmid=28175334 |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/58698 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
*[[François Marie Daudin|Daudin FM]] (1802). ''Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles; Ouvrage faisant suite à l'Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière, composée par [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Leclerc de Buffon]]; et rédigée par [[Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt|C.S. Sonnini]], membre de plusieurs sociétés savantes. Tome second.'' Paris: F. Dufart. 432 pp. (''Crocodilus yacare'', new species, p.&nbsp;407). (in French and Latin).

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Caiman yacare}}
*Reichert, Michelle N., et al. (2018). [https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/222/2/jeb193037/3036/The-respiratory-mechanics-of-the-yacare-caiman "The respiratory mechanics of the yacare caiman (''Caiman yacare'' Daudine) "] [sic]. ''Journal of Experimental Biology'' '''2018''': jeb.193037. {{doi|10.1242/jeb.193037}}.

{{Crocodilia|A.}}
{{Crocs}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q756678|from2=Q49411458|from3=Q49411454}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Caiman (genus)]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Pantanal]]
[[Category:Crocodilians of Brazil]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Bolivia]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Argentina]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Paraguay]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Uruguay]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1802]]
[[Category:Taxa named by François Marie Daudin]]