The Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is an endangered species, related to alligators. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers and lakes, in the seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon basin, and in other freshwater habitats in South America. Once common, it was hunted to near extinction primarily for its commercially valuable hide.
The black caiman can grow to about 6 meters (20 feet) in length, and is both the largest alligator and the Amazon's largest predator. They eat fish, including piranhas, birds, turtles, and land-dwelling animals like the capybara and deer when they come to the water to get a drink. Their teeth are designed to grab but not rip, so they swallow their food whole after drowning it. Immature specimens eat crustaceans and insects. The caiman's excrement was once a substantial food source for the plankton which form the base of the aquatic Amazonian food chain, and their rarity has thus led to a concomitant decline of many species, including some important food species.
The black caiman has a bony ridge over red eyes, and black, scaly skin. The skin coloration helps with camouflage during its nocturnal hunts, but may also help absorb heat (See thermoregulation).
In December, females build a nest of soil and vegetation, which is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) across and 0.75 meters wide (2.5 feet). They lay from 50 to 60 eggs, which hatch in about six weeks. They sometimes eat their young.
Their main predator is humans, who hunt them for leather or meat.
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