The cayman is one of the species of reptiles, that along with the alligators, form the Aligatóridos family. They are very similar to the alligator, except by the bony grudges that they have in the ventral zone. All live in the American tropical.

Greatest it is the black cayman of the rivers Orinoco and Amazon, whose length can surpass the 4.5 ms; he has the black skin, of there his common name, although the young people have yellow spots and rays. Smallest, with near 1.5 ms of length it is the almizclado cayman or dwarfed cayman, that has the osificada skin strongly.

One of the most numerous species is the cayman of eyeglasses, thus called due to the projection that it has between the eyes, that vaguely remember eyeglasses; it can reach up to 3 ms of length. Some species of cayman also receive the local name of jacares. Crocodile also sees itself.

The caymans belong to the Aligatóridos family (Alligatoridae), Crocodilios order. The scientific name of the black cayman is Melanosuchus Niger, the one of the almizclado cayman is Paleosuchus palpebrosus and the cayman of eyeglasses is Cayman crocodilus.