otter - Physical characteristics, Diet, Species, Otters in mythology, Otters in literature, List of species, Gallery

A mammal of family Mustelidae; streamlined, with a flattened muzzle; brown with paler underparts; tail thick at base; feet usually webbed; inhabits streams and lakes; eats fish and invertebrates; 12 species in genera Lutra (river otters), Aonyx (clawless otters), and Pteronura (the giant otter).

For other uses, see Otter (disambiguation).

iOtters
North American River Otters
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Mustelidae Subfamily: Lutrinae
Genera
Amblonyx Aonyx Enhydra Lontra Lutra Lutrogale Pteronura

The aquatic (sometimes marine) carnivorous mammals known as otters form part of the large and diverse family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, and others.

English-speakers may use the collective noun romp to refer to a group of otters (a Google search as of 2 November 2006 lists 210 occurrences of the phrase "romp of otters", but the OED does not appear to record this usage).

Physical characteristics

Otters have a dense layer (1,000 hairs/mm², 650,000 hairs per sq. Most have sharp claws to grasp prey, but the short-clawed otter of southern Asia has only vestigial claws, and two closely-related species of African otter have no claws at all: these species live in the often muddy rivers of Africa and Asia and locate their prey by touch.

Diet

Most otters have fish as the primary item in their diet, supplemented by frogs, crayfish and crabs;

Species

Northern River Otter

The northern river otter (Lontra canadensis) became one of the major animals hunted and trapped for fur in North America after European contact.

Some jurisdictions have made otters a protected species in some areas, and some places have otter sanctuaries.

Sea Otter

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) live along the Pacific coast of North America.

Sea otters eat shellfish and other invertebrates (especially clams, abalone, and sea urchins ), and one can frequently observe them using rocks as crude tools to smash open shells.

Unlike most marine mammals (seals, for example, or whales), sea otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber.

Maxwell's Otter

Zoologists believe that a sub-species of otter Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli (named 'Maxwell's Otter' after the British naturalist Gavin Maxwell and the subject of his book Ring of Bright Water) lived in the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh of Iraq.

European Otter

Otters also inhabit Europe.

Giant Otter

The Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) inhabits South America, especially the Amazon river basin, but is becoming increasingly rare due to poaching, habitat loss, and the use of mercury and other toxins in illegal alluvial gold mining.

Otters in mythology

Norse mythology tells of the dwarf Ótr habitually taking the form of an otter. these and cognate words in other Indo-European languages ultimately stem from a root which apparently also gave rise to the English words "water", "wet" and "winter".)

In some Native American cultures, otters are considered totem animals.

According to Jamie Sams and David Carson, authors of Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Animals Through the Ways of Animals the medicine held by Otter is a set of lessons in a female energy. At home in both of these elements, Otter i the personification of feminity: long, sleek, and graceful, Otter is the true coquette of the animal world.

Otters in literature

Non-fiction: Gavin Maxwell's stories of his life in a remote part of northern Scotland and of the otters he encountered there:

Ring of Bright Water The Rocks Remain

Fiction:

Otters appear very commonly in Brian Jacques's Redwall series. McAllister's The Mistmantle Chronicles Thornton Burgess's "Little Joe Otter" Otters were a frequent obsession of the surreal comedy Dare To Believe.

List of species

Genus Lutra

European Otter (Lutra lutra) Hairy-nosed Otter (Lutra sumatrana)

Genus Hydrictis

Speckle-throated Otter (Hydrictis maculicollis)

Genus Lutrogale

Smooth-coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata)

Genus Lontra

Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis) Southern River Otter (Lontra provocax) Long-tailed Otter (Lontra longicaudis) Marine Otter (Lontra felina)

Genus Pteronura

Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Genus Aonyx

African Clawless Otter (Aonyx capensis) Congo Clawless Otter (Aonyx congicus)

Genus Amblonyx

Oriental Small-clawed Otter (Amblonyx cinereus)

Genus Enhydra

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)

Gallery

Oriental Small-clawed Otter

Giant Otter

A North American river otter in Asseteague Wildlife Refuge

Sea Otters