Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)

Llanqui, Irbin B., Y. Salas, Cinthya & Oblitas, Melissa P., 2019, A preliminary checklist of amphibians and reptiles from the vicinity of La Nube Biological Station, Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, Peru, Check List 15 (5), pp. 773-796 : 790-791

Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)

Figure 7G

Material examined. Field observations; (13°25′20″S, 069° 36′36″W), 22–28.IX.2013.

Identification. A relatively small alligator, total length <1.75 m in males and <1.2 m in females. Adults can be identified by dorsum and tail black, lower jaws with 4 or 5 dark brown marks with poorly defined borders. Two rows of occipital scutes; 3–4 rows of dorsal scutes between the hind legs. Similar species in nearby localities are: P. trigonatus , which has a single row of occipital scutes; Caiman crocodilus , which has a bony ridge connecting the orbits, absent in P. palpebrosus , dorsum tan to pale olive-gray and no black marks on the jaws; Melanosuchus niger , which is larger (total length ~ 4–5 m), black dorsal coloration, and marks on lower jaws well defined.

Distribution. Paleosuchus palpebrosus is widely distributed in Amazonia in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suri- name, Trinidad, and Venezuela up to 1300 m a.s.l. ( Magnusson 1992, Rueda-Almonacid et al. 2007, Cole et al. 2013, Uetz and Hošek 2019).