Broad-snouted caiman
Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801)
The broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) is a reptile in the crocodilian subgroup, belonging to the order Crocodylia and the family Alligatoridae. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 14.6 kg.
Quick facts about the broad-snouted caiman
It lays one clutch of 30 eggs per year, and the eggs incubate for 82 days. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 22 years.
- Weight
- 14.6 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 3.5 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 22 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- freshwater, riverine, wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 82 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 18 – 129src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 years – 7.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the broad-snouted caiman
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Where does the broad-snouted caiman live?
Not recorded
What is the broad-snouted caiman?
The broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) is a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae found in eastern and central South America, including the Pantanal habitat of Bolivia, Southeast Brazil, and Paraguay, as well as northern Argentina and Uruguay. Behind the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), it is the second-largest caiman species; it is the third-largest alligatorid behind the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the aforementioned black caiman. Primarily, the species inhabits freshwater wetlands, including floodplains, marshes, swamps, and some mangrove forests, as well as various streams, rivers, lakes or ponds, preferring bodies of rather still or slower-moving water. They will often use man-made cow ponds, disused stock tanks, and canals and ditches, as well.
From the Wikipedia article “Broad-snouted caiman” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Broad-snouted_caiman&oldid=1378609562), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the broad-snouted caiman endangered?
The broad-snouted caiman is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the broad-snouted caiman classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderCrocodylia
- familyAlligatoridae
- genusCaiman
- SpeciesCaiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801)
Synonyms Alligator cynocephalus, Caiman fissipes, Caiman latirostris chacoensis, Champsa fissipes, Crocodilus latirostris
Other names and names in other languages (33)
- Broad-nosed caimanEnglish
- Broad-snouted caiman or black caimanEnglish
- كايمن ذو الخطم الواسعArabic
- Широкомуцунест кайманBulgarian
- kajman šíronosýCzech
- Bredsnudet KaimanDanish
- BreitschnauzenkaimanGerman
- Yacare ñatoSpanish
- Yacaré ñatoSpanish
- Yacare overoSpanish
- Yacaré overoSpanish
- LeveäkuonokaimaaniFinnish
- Caïman à museau largeFrench
- קיימן רחב חרטוםHebrew
- Sakáre-kajmánHungarian
- Caimano dal muso largoItalian
- クチヒロカイマンJapanese
- クチビロカイマンJapanese
- BredsnutekaimanNorwegian Bokmål
- BreedsnuitkaaimanDutch
- kajman szerokopyskiPolish
- Jacaré-ComumPortuguese
- Jacare-de-papo-amareloPortuguese
- Jacaré-de-Papo-AmareloPortuguese
- Jacaré-do-Papo-AmareloPortuguese
- Jacaré-OrientalPortuguese
- Широкомордый кайманRussian
- широконоси кајманSerbian
- brednoskajmanSwedish
- Geniş burunlu kaymanTurkish
- Кайман широкорилийUkrainian
- 南美寬吻鱷Chinese
- 寬吻凱門鱷Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the broad-snouted caiman
Other species in the same genus Caiman.
Spectacled caiman
Caiman crocodilus
Yacare caiman
Caiman yacare
CompareBroad-snouted caiman vs Spectacled caimanBroad-snouted caiman vs Yacare caiman
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the broad-snouted caiman?
The broad-snouted caiman is a reptile in the crocodilian subgroup. It belongs to the order Crocodylia and the family Alligatoridae.
How heavy is the broad-snouted caiman?
Its representative adult body mass is 14.6 kg, which places it in the medium size class.
Is the broad-snouted caiman endangered?
No. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the broad-snouted caiman live?
Its lifespan is given as 22 years.
How many eggs does the broad-snouted caiman lay?
It lays 30 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs incubate for 82 days.
When does the broad-snouted caiman reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 5 years, with the highest value reported by sources being 7.5 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-snouted-caiman
“Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-snouted-caiman.
@misc{broad_snouted_caiman_2026,
title = {Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/broad-snouted-caiman},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}