---
title: "What the sources say about the Black Caiman | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "6 claims from the Black Caiman profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Black Caiman (*Melanosuchus niger*)

> 6 claims from the Black Caiman profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Black Caiman](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/black-caiman/)

## Thorbjarnarson, J.B. (2010). Black Caiman Melanosuchus niger. Crocodiles: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, 3rd ed. (IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group).

https://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/06_M-24b37cab.pdf

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the biggest member of the alligator family | The Black caiman is the largest member of the Alligatoridae, with adult males surpassing 4-5 m in length. (note: Alligatoridae is the alligator family) |
| Commercial hunting of black caimans began in earnest in the 1940s | did not begin in earnest until the 1940s |
| tags: rainforest | lack the productive varzea forest fl oodplains whose lakes are favored by Black caiman (note: varzea is seasonally flooded Amazon rainforest) |

## Melanosuchus niger. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Melanosuchus_niger

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| weightKg: 82 | Adult weight 82,000 g (note: AnAge life-history average (Myhrvold et al. 2015); the only whole-animal average on record. Erickson 2012's three adults were 31-103 kg, mean 59.) |

## Erickson et al. (2012). Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031781

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| for a reptile whose measured bite reached up to 4,310 newtons | Melanosuchus niger
3
0.73
59
31–103
246
304
2696
1779–4310
1.42
1911
1180–3112 (note: RMBF range 1779-4310 N, upper end) |

## Haddad & Fonseca (2011). A Fatal Attack on a Child by a Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger). Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2010.11.010

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| dangerLevel: Deadly | We describe a fatal attack by a black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) on an 11-year-old child (note: Deadly is 'Capable of killing a human'; a documented fatality.) |