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THE SCHNEIDER’S DWARF CAIMAN

COMMON NAMES:
Smooth-fronted caiman, Schneider's dwarf caiman, Jacaré Coroa, Cochirre, Jacaré curua,

LOCATION:
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela.

HABITAT:
Freshwater rivers, and usually shallower forest streams, but adults often spend much of their time in burrows away from water, traveling overland between burrows and water to forage. The shape of the snout may indicate increased preference for faster-flowing water. More active at night, with much terrestrial activity recorded. Regular use of burrows has been recorded in adults, where they spend much of the day, only coming out at night to patrol their territories and to feed.

STATUS:
IUCN-International Union of Conservation of Nature (Less Concern and Least Risk)
Estimated wild population: over 1,000,000
Summary: Widely distributed with healthy populations and lack of significant population pressure

APPEARANCE:
Both species in the Paleosuchus genus are small in comparison with other crocodilians, but this species is not as small as the Cuvier. Males usually reach 3.5-4.5ft (1.7 to 2.3 m) Ossification is more extensive, and scute size on the body and short, less-flexible tail are more extensive. Significant sideways projection on the double row of sharp scutes on the tail, which is more dorso-ventrally flattened that in other crocodilian species. Iris generally brown, but reported to take on a greenish tinge.

DIET:
The Schneider’s diet changes with age, as with many species of crocodilian. It has been shown that the diet of caimans in the wild is dependant upon their habitat preferences. Juveniles tend to eat a greater proportion of fish than other caiman species, and the adults include a much larger proportion of terrestrial vertebrates in their diet such as snakes and mammals (e.g. large rodents), together with a few fish. Diet depends on prey availability.

BREEDING:
They are pretty much ‘loners’outside the breeding season. Females begin to construct mound nests before the onset of the annual rains. Most are at least 1.3 m in length when they start to breed, males at least 1.4 m (usually between 10 and 20 years of age). Nests are often found within very close proximity of termite mounds. The reasons for this are thought to be concerned with maintenance of a high incubation temperature, utilising vented heat from the termite mound. Number of eggs laid is in the range of 10 to 20. Incubation time is very long for a crocodilian, being as long as 115 days. Hatchlings emerge as water levels are rising from the rains. Juveniles disperse over a wide range following hatching, with adults maintaining permanent territories over wide areas. Predators may include large carnivores such as jaguars.

CONSERVATION:
Information on other species of crocodilians has led to the accumulation of a reasonable amount of survey data for this species. Due to the double layer of osteoderms on the skin of this species it has escaped significant hunting pressure. Major present and future threats include with the ever-present threat of habitat destruction, and pollution associated with gold mining activities. Commercial exploitation incentives are low, with collection in Guyana permitted for the pet trade and tourist trade. The long-term effects of the environmental pollution from gold mining also need to be examined for this and other South American crocodilians.