46 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



numbering six instead of eight. It differs also somewhat 

 in colour, the dark background being minutely speckled 

 with yellow or white. In size it is much smaller, never 

 exceeding seven feet in length. The Chinese Alligator 

 usually becomes very tame in captivity, and a six-foot- 

 long specimen, which has lived for the past twenty-three 

 years in our gardens, is extremely docile, allowing itself to 

 be picked up and petted. The voice of this species is 

 totally different to that of the American Alligator, the 

 sounds produced being sharp and sudden, never prolonged, 

 and always repeated several times in rapid succession. 



In the genus Caiman the fourth tooth of the lower jaw 

 fits into a pit in the upper, as in the Alligators. Unlike 

 in the latter, however, the ventral surface is protected by 

 an armour of bony scutes. The Caymans, of which eight 

 species are distinguished, are restricted to Central and 

 South America. The largest member of the genus, C. 

 niger, attains a length of nearly twenty feet ; eight feet 

 is the maximum length of the other species. 



The Spectacled Cayman, C. sclerops, is so called on 

 account of its possessing a strong ridge, situated in front 

 of and between the eyes, which combines with the ridges 

 round them to resemble a pair of spectacles. It is the 

 commonest species, and is extremely abundant throughout 

 Central and South America, and, in fact. Bates has stated 

 that, in certain localities, some of the waters may be said 

 to be as well stocked with caymans as an average ditch in 

 England is with tadpoles. 



The Broad-snouted Cayman, C. latirostris, inhabiting 

 South America, east of the Andes, is characterized by an 

 extremely broad and rounded snout, its basal width 



