VERDADE, L.M., LARRIERA, A. & PIÑA, C.I. (2010)
Broad-snouted Caiman - Caiman latirostris.
In: Crocodiles.Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan: 18-22.
Third Edition, ed. by S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson. Crocodile Specialist Group: Darwin
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The Broad-snouted caiman is a medium-sized crocodilian. Although its maximum reported size is 3.5 m, animals longer than 2.0 m are presently rare in the wild. This species’geographic distribution includes the drainages of the Paraná, Paraguay, Uruguay and São Francisco River systems, spreading over regions of northeast Argentina, southeast Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Uruguay. It also includes a large number of small Atlantic coast drainages from Natal, at the eastern tip of Brazil, to northeast Uruguay. Although this species is eventually sympatric with C. yacare
, Medem (1983) reported that C. latirostris was generally found in more densely vegetated, quieter waters. In Paraguay, Scott et al. (1990) found C. latirostris to be a habitat generalist, but when in sympatry with C. yacare it tended to be found in more ephemeral habitat, and was a better colonizer of isolated cattle stock ponds. This kind of man-made habitat has been also reported to be colonized by the species in Brazil (Verdade and Lavorenti 1990) and Argentina (Venturino 1994). Urbanization is also a threat, especially in eastern Brazil, but the species can still be found in urban lakes of the southern region of Rio de Janeiro City (Freitas-Filho 2007). Caiman latirostris has also been found in the mangroves of coastal islands of southeast Brazil (Moulton 1993). According to Yanosky (1994), the Broad-snouted caiman can be found from sea level up to 800 m altitude.
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