Neotropical River Otters

By: Aastha Arora

The species is called the Neotropical River Otters. It’s specific name is Lontra longicaudis. Lontra is the classification and Mustelids is the family. Mustelids is a family of carnivorous mammals. This is their taxonomy; Kingdom-Animalia, Phylum-Chordata, Class-Mammalia, Order-Carnivora, and Family-Mustelidae. They are usually 35-59 inches and 5-15 kilograms. We don’t really know about how long they live but one lived for 14.9 years in captivity. They have short hair, dark grayish brown color, lighter around the throat, long wide tail, short legs, webbed toes, communicate by scent marking, also with whistling, hums, and screeches. An interesting fact is their teeth. They have this structure; Upper: 3 incisors, 1 canine, 4 premolars and 1 molar Lower: 3 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars and 2 molars. They are usually found in Northwest Mexico to Central Argentina and prefer clear and fast flowing rivers with deep water. The species occurs from sea level up to 4,000 m., from rocky shorelines to deciduous and evergreen forests, warm and cool climate rainforests, and coastal savanna swamps.

Neotropical River Otters are carnivores with half-aquatic habits. It is a carnivores which means it is a meat eating animal. It is the top consumer, so in the aquatic environment food web, they are at the very top.

The otters eat fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. It also eats insects, birds, reptiles, and other small mammals. They are both predators because they eat animals and preys because big animals like the anaconda like to look at the otters as food. But who could eat these little cute creatures? They are hunted for their pelts. They are threatened although they are widely distributed, their population is decreasing. Neotropical River Otters have been hunted for their luxurious fur and people have been selling them for money, which gets us to an economic importance of the neotropical river otter.

COOL STORY:

Neotropical River Otters, also known as the Amazonian river otter or the water dog, have been kept in captivity by fishermen so that they can be trained to catch fish for the men. These otters only breed once a year and the male otters stay with the female for only one day. The female have total care of the babies! Young otters are born blind and open their eyes after 44 days. It’s cool that they are born fully furred! Usually there are 2-3 baby otters that are born. Babies are usually born in the spring, but it could be. What's pretty gross is that otters communicate by scent marking! They leave feces near rocks and logs. That’s how they communicate!!!! Gross but also intriguing. The otters had habitat destruction and fragmentation so they disappeared from the highlands. Their habitat recovered, their population recovered from decreasing as well!

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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Kasper, Carlos Benhur, et al. “Trophic Ecology and the Use of Shelters and Latrines by the

Neotropical Otter (Lontra Longicaudis) in the Taquari Valley, Southern Brazil.” Iheringia. Série

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