446 BRASILIAN OTTER. 



the hind feet in the specimen now mentioned 

 measured eight inches across: the tongue was 

 four inches long, and rounded at the end, with a 

 slight fissure, giving the tip a bifid appearance. 

 In this respect, as well as in the structure of the 

 hind feet, the Sea Otter makes an evident ap- 

 proach to the Seal. 



BRASILIAN OTTER. 



Lutra Brasiliana. L. atra, gutturejlaw. 



Black Otter with yellow throat. 



Lutra nigricans, cauda depressa et plana. Barr. Fr. eyuin. p. i$$. 



Brasilian Otter. Pennant Quadr. a. p. 79. 



THIS species is said to be of the size of a mid- 

 dling dog, and entirely of a black colour, except 

 the head, which is brown, and the throat, which 

 is yellow: the eyes are small and black; the 

 whiskers large; the ears round; the feet like 

 those of a Monkey, and with five toes, of which 

 the interior is the shortest; the claws sharp; the 

 tail flat and naked, and reaching no farther than 

 the feet. It is a native of Brasil and Guiana, 

 and about the borders of the Oronoko, and is said 

 to live chiefly on fish and crabs. It is reckoned 

 a good food, and without any fishy taste. In the 

 Gmelinian edition of the Systema Naturae this 

 species is considered as a variety of the Sea Otter. 



