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

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

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

Genus LontraGray, 1843 – four species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
North American river otter

 

Lontra canadensis
(, )

Seven subspecies
  • L. c. canadensis (Schreber, 1777)
  • L. c. kodiacensis (Goldman, 1935)
  • L. c. lataxina (Cuvier, 1823)
  • L. c. mira (Goldman, 1935)
  • L. c. pacifica (J. A. Allen, 1898)
  • L. c. periclyzomae (Elliot, 1905)
  • L. c. sonora (Rhoads, 1898)
North America
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Southern river otter

 

Lontra provocax
(Thomas, 1908)
Chile and Argentina
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 EN 


Neotropical otter

 

Lontra longicaudis
(Olfers, 1818)

Six subspecies
  • L. l. annectens
  • L. l. colombiana
  • L. l. enudris
  • L. l. incarum
  • L. l. longicaudis
  • L. l. raferrous
Central America, South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Marine otter

 

Lontra felina
(Molina, 1782)
South America
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 EN 




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.