Caimans are related to alligators and crocodiles. They can be large - up to twenty feet long - but they can also move quickly. A caiman can lie resting in the river, then suddenly race to the bank and grab its prey.

Caimans and crocodiles usually kill their prey by holding it underwater until it drowns. This made them seem especially powerful to some ancient Latin Americans, who believed that water led to the underworld.