Megalenhydris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Megalenhydris barbaricina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Lutrinae
Tribe: Lutrini [1]
Genus: Megalenhydris
Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987
Species: M. barbaricina
Binomial name
Megalenhydris barbaricina
Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987

Megalenhydris barbaricina is a Late Pleistocene giant otter from Sardinia.[2] It is known from a single skeleton, discovered in the Grotta di Ispinigoli near Dorgali, and was described in 1987.[1] It is one of four extinct otter species from Sardinia. The others are Algarolutra majori, Lutra castiglionis and Sardolutra ichnusae. This otter was large, much larger than the other species. The structure of the teeth points to a diet of shellfish and/or crustaceans. A special characteristic of the species are the flattened first few caudal vertebrae (the rest of the caudal vetrebrae are not known). This might point to a slightly flattened tail.

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Gerard F. Willemsen (2006). "Megalenhydris and its relationship to Lutra reconsidered" (PDF). Hellenic Journal of Geosciences 41: 83–87. 
  2. G. F. Willemsen & A. Malatesta (1987). "Megalenhydris barbaricina sp. nov., a new otter from Sardinia". Proceedings of the Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, B 90: 83–92. 


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.