FAMILY LUTRID.E. ' 39 



FAMILY V. LVTRID.E. 



Embraces the Otters, which are amphibious, ivith broad palmate feet. Tail enlarged at the 

 base, and more or less horizontally flattened. Piscivorous; valuable for their fur. Com- 

 prises two genera. 



GENUS LUTRA. Ray, Cuvier. 



Head broad and rounded, terminating in a blunt muzzle. Ears very short. Body robust. 

 Legs short. Toes five befoi'e, and the rudiment of a fifth behind, connected by a mem- 

 bi-ane, and armed with short not retractile claws. A fetid gland on each side of the vent, 

 containing fetid matter. Good swimmers ; live along banks of streams. Licisors, | ; 

 canines, | ; cheek teeth, i| = 36. 



Obs. In the latest systems, nine species are enumerated, of which three are from America. 

 The existence of more than one species in America is, liowever, as yet not clearly esta- 

 blished. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN OTTER. 



LUTRA CANADENSIS. 



PLATE III. FIG. 1. — PLATE XXXIII. FIG. 1, 2, 3. Views OF the skull. 



Common Otter. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 1, p. 86. 



Land Otter. Warden, Hist. U. S. Vol. 1, p. 206. 



Luira canadensis. Sabine, Franklin's Jour. p. 653. 



£. braziliensis. Haklan, Faun. p. 72. Godman, Vol. 1, p. 5", pi. fig. 2. 



X. canadensis. RiCHAKDSoN, F. B. A. Vol. 1, p. 57. (Large Northern Var.) 



Canadian Otter. Griffith, Cuv. R. An. Vol. 2, p. 316, fijure. 



American Otter. EauoNS, Mass. Report, 1S38, p. 25 ; 1810, p. 46. 



Characteristics. Glossy brown. Chin and tlaroat dusky white. Tail shorter than the body. 

 Length three and a half to five feet. 



Description. Head globular, but not as much as in the European species. Lips thick and 

 fleshy. Ears short and rounded. Eyes small for the size of the animal, and near together. 

 Whiskers remarkably rigid. Body long, cylindrical. Tail slightly depressed at the base, 

 nearly one-fourth of the total length ; at the base of the tail, two oval glands. Fur fine and 

 dense, intermixed with coarser hairs. In their dentition, the Otters are eminently characterized 

 by the enormous dilatation of the two posterior cheek teeth in the upper jaw. Our species, 

 in this particular, offers some variations from the European Otter. The penultimate jaw 

 tooth, in one species, has a broad internal heel directed obliquely forward, with a deep fissure 

 dividing the surface into two rounded and elevated portions ; and the pointed tubercle is broad, 

 with a high shoulder posteriorly, and comparatively little elevated. The last tubercular toolli 



