Giant Otter Shrew

Due to the Giant Otter Shrew's morphological resemblance to otters, it was given its popular name.

The giant otter shrew's features include skin flaps that cover its nostrils when diving and a large, flat muzzle covered with stiff whiskers. Small eyes and exterior ears are present. A thick undercoat and coarse guard hairs cover the body's large, spherical shape. The giant otter shrew features a whitish underside and a dark brown back.

The tail has a short, silky coat of fur covering it. Because it has been compressed laterally, the giant otter shrew can swim like a fish. Legs are not employed for swimming since they are short and lack webbed digits. A skin flap on the inside of the hind foot enables it to be held close to the body while swimming. Additionally, the rear feet include two syndactylous toes that are utilized for grooming. A plantigrade, the giant otter shrew, lives on land. On the sides of the abdomen of females, there are two mammae.

The Tenrecidae family, which is primarily found in Madagascar, includes three species of otter shrews outside Madagascar. On the other hand, huge otter shrews belong to the Potamogalinae subfamily on the African continent. Madagascar tenrecs, which resemble hedgehog tenrecs, and small otter shrews (Micropotamogale species) are their closest relatives. They are Afrotherians, which means that elephants, hyraxes, manatees, dugongs, and aardvarks are among their distant cousins.

Giant otter shrews use their sensitive vibrissae and sense of smell, not their eyesight, to hunt for prey both inside the pool and along the bank. It prefers to hide in places with cover when it feels threatened. Sharp bites are used by the giant otter shrew to attack its prey. It may also use its forefeet to pin the prey down. It sometimes flips crabs over to attack their weaker ventral surfaces. The ability of the Giant Otter Shrew to breathe highly pressured water at its adversaries is one of its most well-known characteristics. Before a huge otter shrew uses the water that it employs as a weapon, it gets swallowed while swimming.

A nocturnal predator, giant otter shrews hunt largely by touch and scent in and around still pools. There are just a few seconds in each dive. Giant otter shrews use their sensitive vibrissae and sense of smell, not their eyesight, to hunt for prey both inside the pool and along the bank. It prefers to hide in places with cover when it feels threatened.

The giant otter shrew attacked its prey with sharp bites. In order to restrain the prey, it may also utilize its forefeet. On occasion, it flips crabs over so they can attack their brittle ventral surfaces. Crabs wider than 7 cm are typically avoided by them. Different people prefer different types of prey; some favor crabs, while others prefer frogs or fish. Frogs are consumed headfirst, whereas fish are cut into bite-sized pieces. On the riverbank, the prey is consumed. Giant otter shrews also eat insects, mollusks, and freshwater prawns. In captivity, it eats 15 to 20 crabs per night.

Reproduction

During the wet or rainy season, giant otter shrews reproduce. Once or twice a year, they have one or two litters, each bearing one or two pups. Males travel great distances by water in quest of partners, and it is believed that during the wet season, males rut (or battle).

• Breeding season varies by region; many breed during the rainy season when food is abundant.

• Gestation: approximately 50–60 days.

• Litter size: generally 1–2 young.

• Young are born blind and helpless; the mother provides most care.

• Juveniles may swim within a few weeks.

In captivity, giant otter shrews do very poorly. It has been observed that captive specimens have rapid health decline and only survive 1–14 days.

The enormous otter digs tunnels in the cracks of riverbanks. It picks dry leaves to line its nest with. Additionally, breeding occurs here. Burrows are regularly modified. Otter shrews frequently stop to groom while foraging. The otter swims downstream after moving upstream along the bank. The night foraging routine is regular and predictable and covers up to 800 meters a night. The giant otter regularly visits discrete piles of feces that are sheltered and probably used to mark the boundaries of territory. Giant otter shrews are solitary, with one shrew occupying between 500 and 1,000 m of stream.

The giant otter shrew is not thought to be hazardous, but it is also not "friendly" in a domestic sense. It is extremely shy, avoids people, is easily stressed, is rarely seen, and bites if handled.

The giant otter shrew has little known cultural significance. It was unknown that the giant otter shrew was a significant cultural icon in African religion or mythology. Discussing or portraying the species typically does not involve cultural appropriation because it is elusive and not closely associated with a specific culture's identity. The majority of local populations merely see it as a shy, uncommon forest species that is occasionally hunted but not ritualized. Otter shrews may have been employed by several locals in the past as a means of reincarnating enemies or departed ancestors.

Threats

• Deforestation

• Road construction

• Hydroelectric projects

• Agricultural expansion

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation efforts

• Habitat protection

• Anti-poaching enforcement

• Protection of freshwater ecosystems

• Environmental impact controls on development

• Reducing water pollution

• Education in local communities about the species

• Rescue and rehabilitation centers

• Awareness campaigns against illegal pet trade and bile farming

• But populations are declining in some areas due to habitat fragmentation.

The giant otter shrew is found in the main rainforest block of central Africa, from Nigeria to Zambia, with a few isolated populations in Kenya and Uganda. It lives in streams, wetlands, and slow-flowing, larger rivers. Giant otter shrews are native to central Africa, from the southern regions of Nigeria (central Rainforest Zone) and then eastward through Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan to the northern regions of Angola and Zambia.

There is a small population that lives between Uganda and Kenya and in the preserved rainforest of Kakamega, Kenya. In the rainforest, this species favors freshwater aquatic microhabitats. Preferred habitats include swiftly moving rivers, streams, marshes, and coastal rivers. Some individuals may seek refuge in small woodland ponds during the rainy season (altitude range: 0-1,800 m). The banks of rivers make excellent breeding and nesting grounds. Like otters, these creatures dig tunnels with an entrance below the water's surface, where they spend the day finding shelter before coming out to play in the late afternoon.

During The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) saga in the 2600s and 2700s, the "Sky People" or Terrans from Earth brought the giant otter shrew to two exoplanets that resembled Earth: Reinachos from Cygnus and Berbania from Ursa Major. Despite the death of our planet, this species is recovering from endangerment or near extinction thanks to conservation initiatives. The otter shrew became an invasive species as a result of human activities for rewilding and game hunting. In two exoplanets that resemble Earth, otter shrews live in similar environments and climates.

• Movement Pattern: Not a Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: ???

• Locomotion: Amphibious

• Habitat: Taiga; Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Subterranean River; Warm Pond; Cold Pond.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Angola; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Congo Republic; DR Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Kenya; Nigeria; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia

• Berbania: ???

• Reinachos: ???

• Delphia: none

• Sawintir: none

• Agarathos: none

Coming soon

It is the only species in the genus Potamogale. Otter shrews are most closely related to the tenrecs of Madagascar.

All tenrecs are believed to descend from a common ancestor that lived 29–37 million years (Ma) ago after rafting from Africa to Madagascar in a single event. Tenrecs are widely diverse; as a result of convergent evolution, they resemble hedgehogs, otters, aardvarks, shrews, opossums, or mice. Nanogale, possibly ancestors of tenrecs and otter shrews, ruled Africa over the Paleogene period.

• Coming soon

See also: none

Coming soon

• Coming soon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_otter_shrew

• https://www.britannica.com/animal/otter-shrew

• https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Potamogale_velox/

• https://www.wisesayings.com/otter-quotes/

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Giant-Otter-Shrew-892056740