Common or Spectacled Caiman with South American False Coral Snake

A watercolour of a spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) holding a false coral snake (Anilius scytale) in its mouth. Merian collected many reptiles during her visit to Suriname (1699-1701) and was planning to publish a volume on Surinamese reptiles if her book on Surinamese insects (Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, 1705) proved popular. Although the Metamorphosis was a success, her plan for a second book was never realised. Posthumous editions of the Metamorphosis, however, included a version of this image alongside the sixty plates which Merian had published.