1. Crocodilians represent one of the oldest extant vertebrate lineages. They have co‐existed with humans throughout the Amazon basin for thousands of years, often having a strong cultural and economic influence on people's lives. Shifts in the socio‐economic and political reality of the Amazon basin during the last century have led crocodilian populations to face large variations in their numbers according to different levels of exploitation and strategies for their conservation.
2. This article reviews the scientific knowledge obtained between 1945 and 2019 on the biology, conservation and management for the four Amazonian crocodilian (caiman) species (Caiman crocodilus, Melanosuchus niger, Paleosuchus palpebrosus and Paleosuchus trigonatus). It provides a general overview on past and current population status and research efforts involving caimans in the Amazon basin and discusses perspectives for the future.
3. The most significant studies on the ecology, genetics and management strategies are examined in more detail and this information is contextualized to provide an overview of the most relevant findings that might explain caiman population trends over the last 75 years.
4. Systems for sustainable management in the Amazon basin have been discussed for the past 20 years, but remain rarely applicable. It is necessary to develop new ways to maintain healthy caiman populations through innovative management programmes. Sustainable harvesting of wildlife has been shown to promote conservation targets, especially those initiatives based on community co‐management. In this article, we propose some general guidelines for future management schemes, in the expectation that the information provided by the scientific community will be considered fully without political agendas determining the priorities.

中文翻译：

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亚马逊鳄的科学与保护：历史回顾

1. 鳄鱼代表着现存的最古老的脊椎动物世系之一。他们与人类在整个亚马逊河流域共存了数千年，常常对人们的生活产生深远的文化和经济影响。上个世纪以来，亚马逊河流域的社会经济和政治现实发生了变化，导致鳄鱼种群面临着数量巨大的变化，这取决于不同的开采水平和保护策略。
2. 本文回顾了1945年至2019年之间获得的关于四种亚马逊鳄（caiman）物种（凯门鳄（Caiman crocodilus），黑奴（Melanosuchus niger），古豹（paleosuchus palpebrosus）和古豹（Peoeosuchus trigonatus））的生物学，保护和管理的科学知识。它提供了有关亚马逊流域过去和当前人口状况以及涉及凯门鳄的研究工作的概述，并讨论了未来的前景。
3. 我们将对生态，遗传学和管理策略方面最重要的研究进行更详细的研究，并根据相关信息提供背景信息，以概述可以解释过去75年凯门鳄种群趋势的最相关发现。
4. 在过去的20年中，已经讨论了亚马逊流域的可持续管理系统，但是仍然很少使用。有必要通过创新的管理计划开发新的方法来维持健康的凯门鳄种群。事实证明，可持续采伐野生动植物可以促进保护目标，特别是那些基于社区共同管理的倡议。在本文中，我们提出了一些有关未来管理计划的一般指导原则，以期在没有政治议程确定优先事项的情况下，科学界提供的信息将得到充分考虑。