the claws upon the hind-feet are flattened and somewhat nail-like. There are about ten species, but of course, as is so universally the case, a great many more names have been given. The molar formula is like that of Enhydris save that there is an extra premolar in the upper jaw. There are fourteen pairs of ribs, of which eleven pairs reach the ten-jointed sternum. The caudals are twenty-three. The Cape Otter, the "clawless" Otter, has been separated as a genus Aonyx. So too has the South American Pteronura brasiliensis. But in neither case is the separation allowed by Mr. Thomas in a recent revision of the genus.[1] The latter species has the reputation of being very fierce, and is known in Uruguay by the name of "Lobo de pecho blanco." The British species, L. vulgaris, reaches a length of 2 feet or so, with a tail of 16 inches; it ranges over the whole of Europe and a large portion of Asia. This Otter often burrows in the banks of the streams which it frequents; and in the burrow in March or April the female brings forth her young, three to five in number. It will also frequent the sea-coast.
Fig. 223.—Otter. Lutra vulgaris. × 1⁄6.
Fossil Mustelidae.—Besides a number of the existing genera there are fossil members of this family which cannot be referred to existing genera. These latter extend back into time as far as the Eocene. Stenoplesictis, one of these Eocene forms referable to the sub-family Mustelinae, is to be distinguished
- ↑ "Preliminary Notes on the Characters and Synonymy of the different Species of Otter," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 190.
