Lontra

Lontra
North American river otters (Lontra canadensis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Lutrinae
Genus: Lontra
Gray, 1843
Type species
Lutra canadensis
Gray, 1843[1]
Species

L. canadensis
L. felina
L. longicaudis
L. provocax
L. weiri

Lontra range

Lontra is a genus of otters from the Americas.[1]

Species[edit]

These species were previously included in the genus Lutra, together with the Eurasian otter, but they have now been moved to a separate genus. The genus comprises four living and one known fossil species:

Extant species[edit]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Lontra canadensis North American river otter North America
Lontra provocax Southern river otter Chile and Argentina
Lontra longicaudis Neotropical otter Central America, South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad
Lontra felina Marine otter South America

Extinct species[edit]

Scientific name Common name Distribution
Lontra weiri Weir's otter Pliocene North America[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Prassack, K.A. (July 2016). "Lontra weiri, sp. nov., a Pliocene river otter (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mustelidae, Lutrinae) from the Hagerman Fossil Beds (Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument), Idaho, USA". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (4): e1149075. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1149075. S2CID 87404097.