Cretan otter
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Lutrogale
Species:
†L. cretensis
Binomial name
†Lutrogale cretensis
(Symeonides & Sondaar, 1975)[1]
Synonyms

Isolalutra cretensis

The Cretan otter (Lutrogale cretensis) is an extinct otter that was endemic to Crete during the Pleistocene.[2][3]

Taxonomy

It was a close relative of the smooth-coated otter (L. perspicillata), whom today lives only in southern Asia but had a wider distribution in the past.

The Cretan otter is the only carnivoran known from the Pleistocene of Crete. Its remains are known from only one locality (Liko Cave).[4]

Description

The Cretan otter was similar in length to the smooth-coated otter, around 1 m (3.3 ft) long, but was more robustly built and slightly heavier.

The Cretan otter shows more terrestrial adaptations than both the smooth-coated otter and the Eurasian otter, though not to the extent seen in otters of the genus Aonyx.[5] Its skeleton combines a number of adaptations to terrestrial locomotion (e.g. the position of the teres major and the sacropelvic angle), with clear aquatic adaptations (e.g. the ratio of ilium and ischiopubis length, the large feet and somewhat flattened tail to facilitate fast underwater swimming).

This change in lifestyle likely arose due to the special conditions (such as lack of rivers) on Crete.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Lutrogale cretensis". Fossilworks.
  2. ↑ Symeonidis, N.; Sondaar, P. Y. (1975). "A new otter from the Pleistocene of Crete". Symeonidis, N. And Sondaar, P. Y. (1975). A New Ann. Geol. Pays Hellen. 27: 11–24.
  3. ↑ Willemsen, G. F. (1980). "Comparative study of the functional morphology of some Lutrinae especially Lutra lutra, Lutrogale perspicillata and the Pleistocene Isolalutra cretensis". Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen B. 83 (3): 289–326.
  4. ↑ Alcover, J.A. (1998). "Mammal Species of the World: Additional Data on Insular Mammals". American Museum Novitates (3248): 1–29.
  5. ↑ Willemsen, G.F. (October 1992). "A revision of the Pliocene and Quaternary Lutrinae from Europe". Scripta Geol. 101: 1–115.
  6. ↑ van der Geer, Alexandra; Lyras, George; de Vos, John (April 27, 2021). Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Wiley. p. 534. ISBN 9781119675747.
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