Cretan otter
The Cretan otter (Lutrogale cretensis) is an extinct otter known from Late Pleistocene remains on Crete. Symeonides and Sondaar described it in 1975 as Isolalutra cretensis. Willemsen later placed it in Lutrogale, the genus of the living smooth-coated otter.[1]
Fossils
A nearly complete skeleton was found in a cave near Georgioupolis. Other material includes a jaw with teeth and a thigh bone.[1] A later review discusses these remains from Lykotinara Cave. The survival of fragile ribs and foot bones suggested that the animal either died there or arrived while its body was still intact. That is a reconstruction of how the remains accumulated, not direct evidence of the cause of death.[2]
Size and way of life
Comparisons of its skeleton suggest an animal broadly comparable in size to the smooth-coated otter. Its relatively robust teeth complicate estimates of body size: calculating mass from tooth dimensions alone can exaggerate the difference. A study of island carnivores therefore distinguished dental enlargement from an increase in overall body size.[3]
Willemsen interpreted the limb bones as showing greater adaptation to movement on land than in the living smooth-coated otter. Fish and shellfish remain plausible food; the fossils do not provide a complete account of its diet.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Willemsen, G. F. (1992). “A revision of the Pliocene and Quaternary Lutrinae from Europe”. Scripta Geologica 101:1–115.
- ↑ van der Geer, Alexandra A. E.; Dermitzakis, Michalis D. (2013). “Caves and fossils: palaeontology in Greek caves and fissures”. In Mavridis, Fanis; Jensen, Jesper Tae (eds), Stable Places and Changing Perceptions: Cave Archaeology in Greece. Archaeopress, BAR International Series 2558, pp.83–98, especially p.90.
- ↑ Lyras, G. A.; van der Geer, A. A. E.; Rook, L. (2010). “Body size of insular carnivores: evidence from the fossil record”. Journal of Biogeography 37:1007–1021. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02312.x.