In the wild, adults normally grow to 2 to 2.5 m (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 2 in) in length, but a few old males have been recorded to reach up to 3.5 m (11 ft). Captive adults have weighed 23 to 65 kg (51 to 143 lb). A large adult male of 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) would weigh around 80 kg (180 lb). Most tend to be of a light olive-green color. A few individuals have spots on their faces. The most notable physical characteristic is the broad snout from which its name is derived. The snout is well adapted to rip through the dense vegetation of the marshes. Due to this, they swallow some of the dense vegetation while foraging for food.
Young caimans rely heavily on their ability to find shelter to avoid predation. This behavior drops off as they age.
Upon hatching, the diet of the broad-nosed caiman consists mainly of small invertebrates it can find, such as beetles or arachnids. As the caiman reaches adolescence, it learns to crush shells with its jaws more effectively, enabling it to feed on more substantial prey, such as turtles and snails (including ampullarid snails). As C. latirostris reaches maturity, the size of its prey tends to increase. Young adult caimans still maintain a diet consisting of mostly invertebrates; however, older animals greatly vary their diet, increasing their intake of small mammals, birds, larger fish, amphibians, and reptiles.
Captive specimens have been documented (and photographed) devouring the cone-shaped, mildly sweet fruits of 'split-leaf philodendron' (reclassified as Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum) without external stimulation, though it is unclear if this is because of them being housed with omnivorous reptiles, such as tegu, or a genuinely natural curiosity or feeding behaviour. A later study also concluded that C. latirostris and its relatives are obligate omnivores, and indeed play an important role in the dispersal of plant seeds in their habitats.
The female lays 18 to 50 eggs at a time. While rare, up to 129 eggs have been found within a single nest, presumably from several layings. They lay their eggs in two layers, with a slight temperature difference between the two layers. This will result in a more even ratio of males and females. The caiman does not have sex chromosomes, but instead depends on temperature to determine the ratio of male and female offspring. Eggs at warmer temperatures (32 °C (90 °F) or higher) develop into males and eggs at cooler temperatures (31 °C (88 °F) or lower) develop into females. Estrogen levels and stress levels of the mother can have an effect. Nests reared at the same temperature can differ in sex ratio. This indicates there are other factor that contribute to a nest having male or female eggs.
Crocodile Specialist Group (1996). "Caiman latirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T46585A11062418. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T46585A11062418.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/46585/11062418
Manolis, S.C.; Stevenson, C., eds. (2022-01-19). "Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris". Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF) (3 ed.). Darwin, Australia: Crocodile Specialist Group. pp. 18–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02. http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/04_C-c7ff4560.pdf
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
Bittencourt, Pedro Senna; Campos, Zilca; Muniz, Fabio de Lima; Marioni, Boris; Souza, Bruno Campos; Da Silveira, Ronis; de Thoisy, Benoit; Hrbek, Tomas; Farias, Izeni Pires (22 March 2019). "Evidence of cryptic lineages within a small South American crocodilian: the Schneider's dwarf caiman Paleosuchus trigonatus (Alligatoridae: Caimaninae)". PeerJ. 7: e6580. doi:10.7717/peerj.6580. PMC 6433001. PMID 30931177. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6433001
Manolis, S.C.; Stevenson, C., eds. (2022-01-19). "Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris". Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF) (3 ed.). Darwin, Australia: Crocodile Specialist Group. pp. 18–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02. http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/04_C-c7ff4560.pdf
"3.3 Caimans". http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0750E/t0750e0b.htm
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035541/http://docentes.esalq.usp.br/lea/Artigos_pdf/Verdade%202003.pdf
Bassetti, Luís AB; Marques, Thiago S.; Malvásio, Adriana; Piña, Carlos I.; Verdade, Luciano M. (4 February 2014). "Thermoregulation in captive broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris)". Zoological Studies. 53 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/1810-522X-53-9. hdl:11336/18814. ISSN 1810-522X. https://doi.org/10.1186%2F1810-522X-53-9
Liwszyc, Guillermo; Larramendy, Marcelo L. (10 February 2023). Bird and Reptile Species in Environmental Risk Assessment Strategies. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 978-1-83767-077-2. 978-1-83767-077-2
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
Borteiro, C. Gutierrez, F. Tedros, M. and Kolenc, F. Food habits of the Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman Latirostris:Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) in northwestern Uruguay. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. Vol. 44, No. 1, April 2009, 31-36.
Micheli, M.A. Campbell, H. A. Autonomic control of heart rate exhibits diurnal shifts in a crocodilian. Amphibia-Reptilia, Vol. 29 Issue 4, 2008. 567-571.
Micheli, M.A. Campbell, H. A. Autonomic control of heart rate exhibits diurnal shifts in a crocodilian. Amphibia-Reptilia, Vol. 29 Issue 4, 2008. 567-571.
Somaweera, Ruchira; Brien, Matthew; Shine, Richard (2013-12-01). "The Role of Predation in Shaping Crocodilian Natural History". Herpetological Monographs. 27 (1). Herpetologists League: 23. doi:10.1655/herpmonographs-d-11-00001. ISSN 0733-1347. S2CID 86167446. /wiki/Herpetological_Monographs
Somaweera, Ruchira; Brien, Matthew; Shine, Richard (2013-12-01). "The Role of Predation in Shaping Crocodilian Natural History". Herpetological Monographs. 27 (1). Herpetologists League: 23. doi:10.1655/herpmonographs-d-11-00001. ISSN 0733-1347. S2CID 86167446. /wiki/Herpetological_Monographs
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
"Crocodilian Species - Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris)". https://crocodilian.com/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
Borteiro, C. Gutierrez, F. Tedros, M. and Kolenc, F. Food habits of the Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman Latirostris:Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) in northwestern Uruguay. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment. Vol. 44, No. 1, April 2009, 31-36.
Somaweera, Ruchira; Brien, Matthew; Shine, Richard (2013-12-01). "The Role of Predation in Shaping Crocodilian Natural History". Herpetological Monographs. 27 (1). Herpetologists League: 23. doi:10.1655/herpmonographs-d-11-00001. ISSN 0733-1347. S2CID 86167446. /wiki/Herpetological_Monographs
"Crocodilian Species - Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris)". https://crocodilian.com/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
Brito et al. 2002. "Do caiman eat fruit?".http://www.rc.unesp.br/ib/zoologia/denis/Brito_et_al.pdf. 2002. http://www.rc.unesp.br/ib/zoologia/denis/Brito_et_al.pdf
Platt, S.G; Elsey, R.M; Liu, H. (2013). "Frugivory and seed dispersal by crocodilians: an overlooked form of saurochory?". Journal of Zoology. 291 (2): 87–99. doi:10.1111/jzo.12052. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fjzo.12052
Manolis, S.C.; Stevenson, C., eds. (2022-01-19). "Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris". Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF) (3 ed.). Darwin, Australia: Crocodile Specialist Group. pp. 18–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02. http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/04_C-c7ff4560.pdf
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm
María Virginia Parachú Marcó, Pamela Leiva, Josefina Luciana Iungman, Melina Soledad Simoncini and Carlos Ignacio Piña (April 2017): New Evidence Characterizing Temperature-dependent Sex Determination in Broad-snouted Caiman, Caiman latirostris.
Simoncini, Melina (2019). "Influence of Temperature Variation on Incubation Period, Hatching Success, Sex Ratio, and Phenotypes in Caiman Latirostris". Experimental Zoology Part A. 331 (5): 299–307. Bibcode:2019JEZA..331..299S. doi:10.1002/jez.2265. PMID 31033236. S2CID 139105823. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Manolis, S.C.; Stevenson, C., eds. (2022-01-19). "Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris". Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF) (3 ed.). Darwin, Australia: Crocodile Specialist Group. pp. 18–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02. http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/04_C-c7ff4560.pdf
Manolis, S.C.; Stevenson, C., eds. (2022-01-19). "Broad-snouted Caiman Caiman latirostris". Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan (PDF) (3 ed.). Darwin, Australia: Crocodile Specialist Group. pp. 18–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-02. http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/04_C-c7ff4560.pdf
Britton, A. Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801). Crocodilian Species List.http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm. 2009. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/csp_clat.htm