Lontra canadensis

The North American river otter, also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that is endemic to the North American continent throughout most of Canada and along the coasts of the United States and its inland waterways. An adult North American river otter can weigh between 5 and 14 kilograms (11–31 lb). The river otter is protected and insulated by a thick, water-repellent coat of fur.

Lontra canadensis

USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
North American river otterPBDB
Sits inside
LontraPBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Mustelidae
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB, for Lontra
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 1.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 1.4 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 4.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Pliocene — about 1 of 35 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 28 of 35 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 6 of 35 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.0–3.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.8–3.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.6–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.9–2.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.6–2.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.4–2.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.9–1.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–1.0 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.0–867 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences867 ka–693 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences693 ka–520 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences520 ka–347 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences347 ka–173 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence173 ka–0 Mya — about 18 occurrences1.4 Mya11.7 ka5.2 Mya0 Mya

35 occurrences of Lontra canadensis on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

35 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

6 formations

Bermont — 28.80°N, 82.20°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WChapala — 20.30°N, 103.20°WAmerican Falls Lake Bed E — 42.80°N, 112.90°WBacons Castle — 38.16°N, 76.83°WBeaumont — 29.66°N, 94.09°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Lontra canadensis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 28 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Lontra canadensis and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Lontra canadensis and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

935 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 34 sites for Lontra canadensis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

26 references

Each of the 35 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 14 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Lontra canadensis

Credit
USFWS Mountain-Prairie
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itLontra through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Schreber 1776)