Caiman yacare

The yacare caiman is a medium-sized caiman, brown with dark blotches, most noticeably three to five dark spots on the lower jaw. It has a smooth, broad, medium-length snout, bony lumps on the upper eyelids and a curved ridge between the eyes. Some of the teeth in the lower jaw poke up through holes in the upper jaw, giving it a toothy look and the name piranha caiman. Males are much larger than females (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in semi-aquatic habitats and moves in groups to new waters when its habitat is disturbed. It breaks snail shells with its jaws among floating vegetation, and eats fish and other prey. Breeding takes place in December–February, in the middle of the rainy season: the female builds a mound of mud and rotting vegetation, guards the eggs, and they hatch in March. The young fend for themselves almost at once and hide in grass by day from herons and storks (Wikipedia, general species account).

The yacare was hunted by the millions for its skin in the 1980s, but trade bans led to a strong recovery, and an estimated 10 million lived in the Pantanal alone by 2013 (Wikipedia, general species account). It is one of the most common caimans in South America. On this guide it is a target species of the Pampas del Yacuma and the Bolivian Pantanal.