2 . Myron Harmon Swenk 



Bruner, who further states that in 1891 or 1892 several young 

 otters were killed by a dog in Holt county, but the old otters were 

 not seen. In 1897 I learned of an otter being trapped on the 

 Big Blue river near Beatrice. Reports of otters along the Platte 

 and Republican rivers in central Nebraska were received subse- 

 quent to its practical disappearance from the eastern counties. 



Since about 1900 the otter has been a rare animal all over the 

 state. In 1906 the furriers regarded the animal as nearly ex- 

 tinct in the state, and practically no Nebraska otter skins have 

 been received at the local fur houses for the past twelve or 

 fifteen years. In fact, I have heard of only one otter being 

 taken in the state during that period, and that was along the 

 Middle Loup river in Thomas county. 



In 1908" I referred our Nebraska otters to L. c. sonora 

 (Rhoads), basing this conclusion on the mounted specimen in the 

 University Museum, because of its large size and pallor, that 

 being the only Nebraska specimen in any collection in the state 

 at that time, and, so far as known to me, the only Nebraska speci- 

 men extant except the young female in the U. S. National Museum 

 mentioned above. In 1915^ I repeated this identification. The 

 taking of a fine old male otter with a perfect skull in eastern 

 Nebraska in 191 6 reopened the whole question, and a close study 

 has indicated that the Nebraska animal could not be referred to 

 sonora because of its short, stout, postorbital processes, nor yet 

 to typical canadensis because of its larger body size, paleness and 

 less crowded teeth. I propose, therefore, that the Nebraska otter 

 be regarded as more or less intermediate, subspecifically distinct 

 from both under the name 



Lutra canadensis interior subsp. nov. 



Interior Otter 



Type. — Lincoln creek, west of Seward, Seward county, Ne- 

 braska, June 4, 1916. (^ old adult. No. 28,728, Collection of 

 University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. ) George 

 and R. Anderson, collectors. Found dead in the creek. Very fat. 



2 A Preliminary Review of the Mammals of Nebraska, p. 76. 



3 Nebraska Blue Book, i, p. 854. 



