Enhydritherium terraenovae

Enhydritherium terraenovae
Temporal range: Miocene–Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Mustelinae
Tribe: Lutrini
Genus: †Enhydritherium
Berta & Morgan (1985)
Type species
†Enhydritherium terraenovae

Enhydritherium terraenovae is an extinct giant otter endemic to North America which lived during the Miocene through Pliocene epochs from ~9.1—4.9 Ma. (AEO),[1] existing for approximately 4.2 million years.

The ancestral lineage of Enhydritherium terraenova can be traced to Africa and Eurasia, but no clear route of migration can be determined according to Thompson et al.[2]

Contents

Taxonomy

Enhydritherium terraenovae was named by Berta and Morgan in 1985[3] and is the genotype for this animal. Its type locality is the phosphate Palmetto Mine in Florida, which is in a Hemphillian marginal marine sandstone in the Upper Bone Valley Formation of Florida.

Fossil distribution

Fossil specimens were found from in California (3 sites) and Florida (8 sites).

Morphology

Body mass for Enhydritherium terraenovae was estimted by Legendre and Roth (1988).[4]

References

  1. ^ Alroy, John, PaleoDB collection 19461: authorized by J. Alroy, entered by J. Alroy on August 5, 1996
  2. ^ Feldhamer, George A., Thompson, Bruce C., Chapman. Joseph A. Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. ISBN 0801874165
  3. ^ A. Berta and G. S. Morgan. 1985. A new sea otter (Carnivora: Mustelidae) from the late Miocene and early Pliocene (Hemphillian) of North America. Journal of Paleontology 59(4):809-819.
  4. ^ Serge Legendre and Claudia Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98