Spectacled Caiman

Spectacled Caiman
メガネカイマン
Character Data
AKA		White caiman, common caiman
Romaji		Megane kaiman
Debut		Kemono Friends (2015 Game)
Animal Data
Scientific Name		Caiman crocodilus
Distribution		Central and South America
Diet		Carnivore
Avg. Lifespan		30-40 years
Read More		Spectacled caiman
Conservation

Spectacled Caiman

Season 2

Pavilion

KF3

Nexon Game

Gallery

Spectacled Caiman is a crocodilian Friend that first appeared in the original Kemono Friends mobile game.

Appearance

Spectacled Caiman has light-green hair- paler at its ends- with dark-green tasks, worn in two large braids and two ridge-like bunches evoking a caiman's eye ridges, between which sits a red ribbon tied in a small bow. Her bangs sweep left, and her face is framed by lengths of hair evoking crocodilian jaws. She has a pale-green caiman tail with square scales and dark-green bands; the underside is white-green. Her eyes are a muddy green with vertical pupils, and she sports off-black oval browline glasses.

Spectacled Caiman wears a green shingle-textured vest with studs and dark-green stripes; some large shingles form lapels. The vest seems to have a deep V-cut neck, down to her sternum; no undershirt can be clearly observed, exposing the middle of her chest, though a pale-green athletic shirt- per the black-cuffed sleeves on her shoulders- may be worn. She wears distressed grey shorts over black compression shorts and green leather-textured boots with dark-green belts, a non-overlapping scale texture, and green spots. Each boot has a metallic silver band across its vamp, from which four spikes protrude; the outsoles share this material. Spectacled Caiman accessorizes with green, overlapping-scale-patterned fingerless gloves with white-green palms, and a silver spike protruding from each finger knuckle.

Differences in Old Design

Spectacled Caiman's old design had short, vibrant green hair worn in two low pigtails and dark-green side braids. Her face was framed by short lengths of yellow-highlighted hair, and her bangs had less volume. She had bright yellow eyes, and wore orange-red round-framed glasses. She sported a pale-green athletic shirt with a brown collar and brown stripes along her shoulders, flanks, and midsection, marsh-green compression shorts with black stripes, and green boots with belts and a scaly texture. Her gloves were marsh-green, and she wore bracelets featuring five silver spikes each. Her tail scales were more geometric and pronounced.

Series Appearances

Appearances In Kemono Friends Media

Media		Role	First Appearance
2015	Nexon Game	↪ Minor character, obtainable
2018	Kemono Friends Pavilion	↪ Minor character, obtainable
2019	Kemono Friends 2	↪ Minor character, multiple episodes	S2E05: The Power of Humans
2019	Kemono Friends 3	↪ Minor character, obtainable

In Real Life

Caiman crocodilus pair

The spectacled caiman is a medium-sized crocodilian averaging approximately 1.80 m in length; the longest recorded specimen was 2.65 m. Females are typically smaller than males, averaging 1.4 m, though 2-meter-long individuals have been documented. The common name of the species comes from the bone crest between its eyes, which are said to evoke the look of glasses. They also sport pronounced eye ridges, adding to this look further. Much like other members of the alligator family, the snout is broad and rounded. The belly of the caiman is covered in bony plates, affording protection from attackers.

Highly adaptable, the spectacled caiman favors steady bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, marshes and dead riverbanks, as opposed to moving water; they can even tolerate saltwater, within a certain degree of salinity. It is not uncommon for a caiman to remains motionless almost all day, watching over its territorial claim, basking on the shore from morning until early afternoon and staying in the water to combat mid-day heat. The vast floodplain of the Pantanal provides ideal habitat for caiman during the rainy season. If the environmental conditions are too severe, these caimans will sink into the mud and hibernate.

Like all crocodilians, the spectacled caiman is an adept aquatic predator. These nocturnal hunters rely greatly on picking up vibrations in the water. Young caimans feed mainly on invertebrates such as snails, insects and crustaceans. As they grow, the variety of prey they can catch and eat diversifies: fish, amphibians, reptiles and waterfowl enter their diets. Larger specimens may even attack mammals such as deer, and in food-scarce dry seasons, cannibalism has been observed. During the caiman nesting period, many species will raid caiman nests; tegu alone can destroy up to 80% of caiman nests in some areas. Coatis and foxes are also frequent predators of caiman eggs. Hatched juveniles are not safe either, themselves being the prey of large fish and snakes, wading birds, and other crocodilians. Adult spectacled caimans are able to defend themselves against most of these predators, and generally only have humans to be concerned about.

Although typically solitary, the spectacled caiman sometimes congregates in groups. Social rank is determined by size, the largest caimans dominating the smaller ones; likewise, those with the highest social status are more likely to mate than those below them. The spectacled caiman uses taste, touch, sound and visual senses for social and reproductive communication. During the breeding season, male caimans become territorial and aggressive.

Trivia

Caiman crocodilus.

• The skin of the spectacled caiman darkens during colder periods of the year.
• Jaguars are known to prey on spectacled caimans when an opportunity presents itself.
• The spectacled caiman has the widest native range of any New World crocodilian species.
• Despite its scientific name, Caiman crocodilus, spectacled caimans are- like all caimans- more closely related to alligators than to crocodiles, sharing the Alligatoridae family with the former while the latter are found in their own family, Crocodylidae.
  • The family Crocodylidae is not to be confused with the order Crocodilia, the order to which all crocodilian species belong.

References

• "Caïman à lunettes (Caiman crocodilus)". manimalworld.