RANGE OF OTTERS 44 I 



the claws upon the liiiid-feet are flattened and somewhat nail- 

 like. There are about ten species, but of course, as is so 

 universally the case, a great many more names have been given. 

 The molar formula is like that of Unhj/dris save that there is an 

 extra premolar in the upper jaw. Tliere are fourteen pairs of ribs, 

 of which eleven pairs reach the ten-jointed sternum. The caudals 

 are twenty-three. The Cape Otter, the " clawless " Otter, has been 

 separated as a genus Aonyx. So too has the South American 

 Pteronura hrasiliensis. But in neither case is the separation allowed 

 by Mr. Thomas in a recent revision of the genus.^ The latter 

 species has the reputation of being very iierce, and is known in 



Fig. "i'iS. — Otter. Lidra vuhjaris. x J. 



Uruguay by the mime of " Lobo de pecho bianco." The British 

 species, L. ■calgarls, reaches a length of 2 feet or so, with a tail of 

 16 inches; it ranges over the whole of Europe and a large 

 portion of Asia. This Otter often burrows in the banks of the 

 streams which it frequents ; and in the burrow in March or April 

 the female brings forth her young, three to live in number. It 

 will also frequent the sea-coast. 



Fossil Mustelidae. — Besides a number of the existing 

 genera there are fossil members of this family which cannot be 

 referred to existing o-enera. These latter extend back into time 

 as far as the Eocene. Stenoj^lesictis, one of these Eocene forms 

 referable to the sub-family Mustelinae, is to be distinguished 



^ " Preliminary Notes on tlie Characters and Synonymy of the difi'erent Species 

 of Otter," Proc. Znol. Soc. 1SS9, p. 190. 



