| Megalenhydris | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo of holotype in situ | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Subfamily: | Lutrinae |
| Genus: | †
Megalenhydris Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987 |
| Species: | †M. barbaricina
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Megalenhydris barbaricina Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987
| |
Megalenhydris barbaricina is an extinct species of giant otter from the Late Pleistocene of Sardinia. It is known from a single partial skeleton, discovered in the Grotta di Ispinigoli near Dorgali, and was described in 1987. [1] It was larger than any living otter, exceeding the size of South American giant otters (Petrolutra), which can reach two meters in length. [2] [3] The species is one of four extinct otter species from Sardinia and Corsica. The others are Algarolutra majori, Lutra castiglionis [4] and Sardolutra ichnusae. [5] It is suggested to have ultimately originated from the much smaller European mainland species "Lutra" simplicidens [5], which may be more closely related to Lutrogale than to modern Lutra species. [6] The structure of the teeth points to a diet of bottom dwelling fish and crustaceans. [5] A special characteristic of the species is the flattening of the first few caudal vertebrae (the remainder of the caudal vertebrae are not known). This might point to a slightly flattened tail.
Paleoenvironment
During the Middle-Late Pleistocene Corsica and Sardinia had their own highly endemic depauperate terrestrial mammal fauna which besides Megalenhydris included the Tyrrhenian field rat, ( Rhagamys orthodon) the Tyrrhenian vole ( Microtus henseli), the Sardinian pika (Prolagus sardus), a shrew ( Asoriculus similis), a mole ( Talpa tyrrhenica), a dwarf mammoth ( Mammuthus lamarmorai) the Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous), a galictine mustelid ( Enhydrictis galictoides), two other species of otter ( Algarolutra majori and Sardolutra ichnusae) and a deer ( Praemegaceros cazioti). [7]
References
- ^ G. F. Willemsen & A. Malatesta (1987). "Megalenhydris barbaricina sp. nov., a new otter from Sardinia". Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, B. 90: 83–92.
- ^ Darren Naish. "Islands of otters and strange foxes". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
- ^ Lyras, George A.; Van Der Geer, Alexandra A. E.; Rook, Lorenzo (2010-02-10). "Body size of insular carnivores: evidence from the fossil record: Body size of fossil insular carnivores". Journal of Biogeography. 37 (6): 1007–1021. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02312.x. S2CID 53700369.
- ^ Pereira, E., and M. Salotti. "Cyrnolutra castiglionis, a new otter (Mustelidae, Lutrinae) from the Middle Pleistocene'Castiglione 3CG'deposit (Oletta, Corsica)." Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Séries IIA 331.1 (2000): 45-52. [1]
- ^ a b c Gerard F. Willemsen (2006). "Megalenhydris and its relationship to Lutra reconsidered" (PDF). Hellenic Journal of Geosciences. 41: 83–87.
- ^ CHERIN, MARCO (2017-08-23). "NEW MATERIAL OF LUTRA SIMPLICIDENS (CARNIVORA, MUSTELIDAE, LUTRINAE), A KEY TAXON FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN OTTERS". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia (Research in Paleontology and Stratigraphy). 123: N. 3 (2017). doi: 10.13130/2039-4942/9024.
- ^ Palombo, Maria Rita; Rozzi, Roberto (2014-04-10). "How correct is any chronological ordering of the Quaternary Sardinian mammalian assemblages?". Quaternary International. SEQS 2012 Sardinia: at the Edge of the Sea. 328–329: 136–155. Bibcode: 2014QuInt.328..136P. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.09.046. ISSN 1040-6182.
External links
- Darren Naish (December 20, 2007). "Islands of otters and strange foxes". Tetrapod Zoology. ScienceBlogs.
- Lesley Wright (July 22, 2007). "Questions and Answers: In-Depth Responses". IUCN Otter Specialist Group.
 | This article related to prehistoric animals from order Carnivora is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |