284 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



L. canadensis (Schreber). American otter. Color seal brown, 

 grayish beneath; under surface of webs of toes densely hairy; length 

 1,100 mm.; tail 420 mm.; hind foot 120 mm.: North America from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific; northward to the tree line; aquatic animals, 

 living along streams and lakes and eating fish. The animal's den is in 

 the side of the bank with its opening often below the water; the number 

 of young annually raised is from i to 5. 



Subspecies of L. canadensis 



L. c, canadensis (Schreber). Eastern North America north of 

 South Carolina. 



L. c. lataxina (F. Cuvier). Upper surface yellowish brown: south- 

 eastern and Gulf States from North Carolina to Mississippi. 



L. c. vaga (Bangs) . Darker and redder : Florida and eastern Georgia. 



L. c. pacijica (Rhoads). Size large; color lighter: Pacific slope from 

 California to Alaska. 



L. c. sonora (Rhoads). Size very large; length 1,300 mm.: Arizona 

 and southern California. 



L. degener Bangs. Color blackish; length 995 mm.: Newfoundland. 



Subfamily 6. Enhydrinae. — Sea otters. Body long and robust; 

 toes webbed: i genus. 



Enhydra Flemming. Body elongate but stout; tail rather short; 

 hind feet short and very large; dentition 3/2, i/i, 3/3, 1/2: i species 

 almost extinct. 



E. lutris (L.) . Sea-otter. Color deep glossy brownish black ; length 

 1,200 mm.; tail 300; muzzle beset with bristles: shores of the Pacific 

 from Lower California to Alaska; almost extinct; the most valuable 

 American fur animal. The sea otter feeds principally on shell-fish and 

 sea-urchins; but one young is born. 



Family 6. Felidae. — Cats. Body more or less elongate, compact 

 and lithe; feet digitigrade; toes 5-4; claws compressed, sharp and 

 retractile; head short and round; tongue with rasping papillae; pupil 

 elliptical: cosmopolitan (except in Australia); many species, which are 

 most numerous in the tropics and subtropics; about 29 species in 

 North America and 16 in the United States and Canada, grouped in 2 

 genera. 



Key to the United States Genera of Felidae 



ai Tail long i. Felis. 



a2 Tail short 2. Lynx. 



I. Fells L. Cats. Body slender; fur soft and compact; dentition 

 3/3, i/i, 3/2, i/i: about 50 species; 9 species and subspecies in the 



