Megalenhydris

Megalenhydris
Photo of holotype in situ
Scientific classification Edit this 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.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Darren Naish. "Islands of otters and strange foxes". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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]
  5. ^ a b c Gerard F. Willemsen (2006). "Megalenhydris and its relationship to Lutra reconsidered" (PDF). Hellenic Journal of Geosciences. 41: 83–87.
  6. ^ 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.