The name "Caçador" is derived from "Caçadores", a variety of Portuguese infantry created during the 17th century.
Later, battalions of Caçadores Paraquedistas were also created in Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea.
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There were units of this type mobilized both in European Portugal and locally in each overseas territory, forming the vast majority of units committed by the Portuguese Army in the Portuguese Colonial War;
In the 1950s a paratrooper unit was formed in the Portuguese Air Force, known as "Parachutist Hunters" (Caçadores Paraquedistas).