440 OTTERS CHAP. 
other Otters. Specimens have been seen swimming fifteen miles 
from land. The gait of the creature when on land is suggestive 
of a marine animal; the webbed hind-feet are doubled back upon 
the knuckles during progression upon land, and locomotion is 
effected by a series of short springs from these feet; the Otter 
does not walk “in ordinary acceptance of the term.” The tail 
is flattened, being twice as broad as it is thick, and ends in a 
bluntish point. Hnhydris feeds mainly upon crabs and sea-urchins, 
but also upon fish. Its dental formula is peculiar by reason 
chiefly of the reduction of the lower incisors. The formula runs 
as follows: 13 C+ Pm3 Md. 
The molar teeth of this creature, in accordance with its diet, 
have lost the sharp points of the Mustelidae in general; the 
crowns are flattened, and, the tubercles very blunt. In this it 
contrasts with Lutra, and presents some resemblance to the 
Crab-eating Raccoon, Procyon canerivorus ; but the teeth are still 
further blunted. Hnhydris feeds largely upon sea-urchins and 
shell-fish, and needs blunt teeth for the crushing of the hard 
shells of its prey. It is interesting to notice that the habits of 
this animal have been altered by the interference of man. The 
creature has been hotly pursued for a long time on account 
of its valuable fur. Instead of feeding and breeding upon 
the shore in places readily accessible to its pursuers, the Sea- 
Otter has now taken to the open sea in a greater degree. It 
utilises masses of floating seaweed for those purposes, and hunts 
for its food in the deeper water at a greater distance from the 
shore. In conjunction with the increasing rarity of the Sea- 
Otter the price of its skin has enormously increased: whereas in 
1888 the average price per skin was £21:10s., the value of a 
fine skin now is at least £100, and as much as £200 and even 
£250 has been given. The animal is captured by netting and 
by clubbing and spearing.' From the Miocene Siwalik beds re- 
mains of an alhed form, Hnhydridon, have been obtained, whose 
teeth are somewhat intermediate in their crowns between Lutra 
and Enhydris. 
Lutra, including the Otters, is widely distributed. Both 
manus and pes are webbed. The ears are small and_ hairy. 
The nose is not grooved, and the naked part is very circumscribed ; 
1 See an article by Mr. Lydekker in Knowledge, April 1898, from which many 
of the above facts have been taken. 
