Opening chapters lay a ground work of infomation about Suriname and its crocodilians and the possible dimensions of their competitive interactions. Chapters detailing methods, morphometric analyses, description of habitats, the distribution and abundance of the three species and their life cycles provide a wealth of basic data for analysis. Following chapters address habitat selection, the effects of temperature and salinity, and food selection. Two final chapters synthesize the information in a broad discussion of niche segregation and close with a discussion of the impacts of humans and the current status and conservation needs in Suriname. The general conclusion that crocodilian species in Suriname minimize direct competion is not surprising, but the book provides a detailed insight into the subtle variations of life history, physiology and habitat preference that allows this to occur.
Key factors turn out to be nest site preferences, thermophilic behaviour and tolerance to salinity.
Direct aggression and interspecific predation are shown to be relatively unimportant. An additional result of interest is confirmation of the clear morphological and habitat differences between the two Paleosuchus species. The only deficiency I saw was that a comparison of the reproductive ecology of the three species, and an analysis of population dynamics might provide additional insights into the competative relationships, and this work no doubt remains to be done. The Embrapa Group in Corumb , Brazil, continues to produce valuable results from their ongoing studies of caiman in the Pantanal. Santos, S.A, M. S. Nogueira, M.S. Pinheiro, Z. Campos, W. Magnusson and G. Mourao.