Japanese otter

Japanese otter
Extinct (2012)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Lutra
Species:
†L. nippon
Binomial name
†Lutra nippon
Imaizumi & Yoshiyuki, 1989
Synonyms
  • Lutra lutra whiteleyi
  • Lutra lutra nippon
Skeleton of Japanese river otter. Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo

The Japanese otter (Japanese: ニホンカワウソ(日本川獺, Hepburn: Nihon-kawauso) (Lutra nippon) or Japanese river otter is an extinct species of otter formerly widespread in Japan.[1][2]

Dating back to the 1880s, it was once even seen in Tokyo. The population suddenly shrank in the 1930s and nearly vanished. Since then, it has only been spotted in 1964 in the Seto Inland Sea, and in the Uwa Sea in 1972 and 1973. The last official sighting was in the southern part of Kōchi Prefecture in 1979, when it was photographed in the mouth of the Shinjo River in Susaki. It was subsequently classified as a "Critically Endangered" species on the Japanese Red List.[3] On August 28, 2012, the Japanese otter was officially declared extinct by the Ministry of the Environment.[4][5] It is the official animal symbol of Ehime Prefecture.[6]

  1. ^ Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6
  2. ^ "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  3. ^ "Red List of Threatened Mammals of Japan". Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  4. ^ "Japanese river otter declared extinct". Mainichi jp. Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. August 28, 2012. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  5. ^ Kyodo News, "Japanese river otter declared extinct", The Japan Times, August 29, 2012, p. 1
  6. ^ "Japanese River Otter Facts".