''Megalenhydris barbaricina'' is an extinct species of giant

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

from the Late Pleistocene of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. It is known from a single partial

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

, discovered in the '' Grotta di Ispinigoli'' near

Dorgali Dorgali () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about east of Nuoro in the Seaside Supramonte mountain area. Economy is mostly based on the vine and wi ...

, and was described in 1987. It was larger than any living otter, exceeding the size of South American giant otters (''Petrolutra''), which can reach two meters in length. The species is one of four extinct otter species from Sardinia and Corsica. The others are '' Algarolutra majori'', '' Lutra castiglionis''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

/ref> and '' Sardolutra, Sardolutra ichnusae''. It is suggested to have ultimately originated from the much smaller European mainland species "''Lutra" simplicidens,'' which may be more closely related to '' Lutrogale'' than to modern '' Lutra'' species. The structure of the teeth points to a diet of bottom dwelling fish and crustaceans.'''' A special characteristic of the species is the flattening of the first few

caudal vertebrae Caudal vertebrae are the vertebrae of the tail in many vertebrates. In birds, the last few caudal vertebrae fuse into the pygostyle, and in apes, including humans, the caudal vertebrae are fused into the coccyx. In many reptiles, some of the caud ...

(the remainder of the caudal vertebrae are not known). This might point to a slightly flattened tail.

Paleoenvironment

During the Middle-Late Pleistocene Corsica and Sardinia had their own highly

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

depauperate terrestrial mammal fauna which besides ''Megalenhydris'' included the Tyrrhenian field rat, ('' Rhagamys orthodon'') the Tyrrhenian vole ('' Microtus henseli''), the

Sardinian pika The Sardinian pika (''Prolagus sardus'') is an extinct species of lagomorph that was endemic to the islands of Sardinia, Corsica and neighbouring Mediterranean islands until its extinction likely in Roman times. It was the last surviving member o ...

(''Prolagus sardus''), a shrew ('' Asoriculus similis''), a mole ('' Talpa tyrrhenica''), a dwarf mammoth ('' Mammuthus lamarmorai'') the Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous''), a galictine

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborde ...

('' Enhydrictis galictoides''), two other species of

('' Algarolutra majori'' and '' Sardolutra, Sardolutra ichnusae'') and a

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

('' Praemegaceros cazioti'').

References

External links

* * Monotypic prehistoric carnivoran genera Otters Pleistocene carnivorans Prehistoric mustelids Pleistocene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1987 {{Paleo-carnivora-stub