Champsa nigra -- black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) Champsa nigra
Description
English:
Title: Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte
Identifier: annalendeswiener21840wien (find matches)
Year: 1836 (1830s)
Authors: Wiener Museum der Naturgeschichte
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: Wien : Rohrmann und Schweigerd
Date 1840
Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/17580370383/
Author Internet Archive Book Images
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annalen_des_Wiener_Museums_der_Naturgeschichte_(1840)_(17580370383).jpg
The black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is a large crocodilian and, along with the American alligator, is one of the biggest extant members of the family Alligatoridae and order Crocodilia. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers, lakes, seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon basin, and in other freshwater habitats of South America. It is a quite large species, growing to sizes of at least 5 m and possibly up to 6 m in length, which make it the biggest reptile in the Neotropical ecozone. As their name implies, the black caiman has a dark coloration, as an adult. In some individuals the dark coloration can appear almost black. Order: Crocodilia, Family: Alligatoridae, Genus: Melanosuchus, Species: Melanosuchus niger (Spix, 1825).
Synonyms:
Caiman niger Spix, 1825
Champsa nigra (Spix, 1825)
Alligator niger (Spix, 1825)
Jacare niger (Spix, 1825)
Jacaretinga niger (Spix, 1825)