River Otter
River Otter-summer
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More About Otters ...
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Otters are aquatic or marine carnivorous mammals, members of the large and diverse family, Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers and others. There are 13 species of otter in 7 genera, with a distribution that is almost worldwide.
Otters have a dense layer 1,000 hairs/mm² (~650,000 hairs/in²) of very soft underfur which, protected by their outer layer of long guard hairs, keeps them dry under water and traps a layer of air to keep them warm. Unlike most marine mammals (seals, for example, or whales), otters do not have a layer of insuating blubber, and even the marine Sea Otter must come ashore regularly to wash its coat in fresh water.
Fish is the primary item in the diet of most otters, supplemented by frogs, crayfish, and crabs; some have become expert at opening shellfish, and others will take any small mammals or birds that happen to be available. To survive in the cold waters where many otters live, the specialised fur is not enough: otters have very high metabolic rates and burn up energy at a profligate pace: Eurasian Otters, for example, must eat 15% of their body weight a day; Sea Otters, 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In consequence, otters are very vulnerable to prey depletion: in water as warm as 10°C an otter needs to catch 100 g of fish per hour: less than that and it cannot survive. Most species hunt for 3 to 5 hours a day; nursing mothers up to 8 hours a day.
All otters have long, slim, streamlined bodies of extraordinary grace and flexibility, and short limbs; in most cases the paws are webbed. Most have sharp claws to grasp prey but the Short-clawed Otter of southern Asia has just vestigal claws, and two closely related species of African otter have no claws at all: these species live in the often muddy rivers of Africa and Asia and locate their prey by touch.
The North American River Otter (Lutra canadensis) was one of the major animals hunted and trapped for fur in North America after contact with Europeans. They are playful and active, making them a popular exhibit in zoos and aquaria, but unwelcome on agricultural land because they alter river banks for access, sliding, and defense. River otters eat a variety of fish and shellfish, as well as small land mammals and birds. They are 3 to 4 feet (1 m) in length and weigh from 10 to 30 pounds (5 to 15 kg). They were once found all over North America, but are rare or extinct in most places, although flourishing in some locations.
The Sea Otter Enhydra lutris is found along the Pacific coast of North America. Their historic range included shallow waters of the Bering Strait and Kamchatka, and as far south as Japan. Sea otters have 1 million hairs per square inch of skin, a rich fur for which they were hunted almost to extinction. By the time they were protected under the 1911 Fur Seal Treaty, there were so few sea otters left that the fur trade had become unprofitable.
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Taxonmony
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Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Otters
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INFO LINKS
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Otter
Otternet.com
Tons of information on otters Read More
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Asian Short-clawed Otter
Searworld.Org
Fast and fun facts about Asian Short-clawed otter Read More
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Sea Otter
Searworld.Org
They are listed as threated in the endangered species list. Facts about Sea Otter Read More
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Otter
The Mammal Society - The Voice for British Mammals
Otter Read More
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River Otter
National Geographic - Creature Feature Archive
River Otter fun facts Read More
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Eurasian river otter
BBC Nature: Wildfacts
Eurasian river otter: Facts and Pictures Read More
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North American River Otter
Sedgwick County Zoo
North American River Otter fact sheet Read More
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Asian Small-Clawed Otter
theBigZoo.com
About Asian Small-Clawed Otter Read More
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Cape Clawless Otter
theBigZoo.com
About Cape Clawless Otter Read More
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Giant River Otter
National Geographic
Giant River Otter fact sheet and pictures; audio clip Read More
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North American River Otter
National Geographic
North American River Otter fact sheet and pictures; audio clip Read More
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Sea Otter
National Geographic
Sea Otter fact sheet and pictures; video clip; audio clip Read More
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Asian Small-clawed Otter
National Zoo
Asian Small-clawed Otter fact sheet Read More
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North American River Otter
National Zoo
North American River Otter fact sheet Read More
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Giant Otter
Animals Of The Rainforest
Brief description, taxonomic information, pictures, and links Read More
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Sea Otter
bcadventure.com
Brief description of Sea Otter Read More
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North American River Otter
Houston Zoo
About North American River Otter Read More
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