Northern Caiman Lizard (Dracaena guianensis) (1)

Northern Caiman Lizard (Dracaena guianensis) (1)

Basel Zoo reported recently to have successfully bred Northern caiman lizards in early 2023. My photo shows one of them.

The text below about the caiman lizards is from the Basel Zoo website. The article also describes how the breeding was done.

The northern caiman lizard belongs to the Teiidae family of lizards and is one of the largest species of lizards in South America, reaching up to a maximum total length of around one meter. In the wild, these lizards can be found from the Amazon Basin in Brazil to the headwaters of eastern Peru, Ecuador and southern Colombia. They display amphibian-like behavior: when they are on land, they climb up onto the branches of shrubs and trees and often relax above the water, which they can then drop into should they find themselves in any danger. Their strong tail helps them to swim by acting as a motor and steering mechanism, just like that of a crocodile.

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