13. LUTEONECTES. 107 



(2) Lutra paraguensis, Eengger, Saugeth. v. Paraguay, p. 128 ; 

 Wagner, Schreb. Siiiigeth. ii. p. 216 ; Bunn. La Plata, ii. p. 410. 

 muna, Azara, Quad. i. p. 304.— iTaS. Paraguay. 



_ (3) Lutra ? aterrima, Selirenck, Amurland, p. 43 ; Viverra aUr- 

 nma, Pallas, Zoogr. Eoss.-Asiat. i. p. 81 ; Mustela aterrima, Pallas, 

 Middendorff, Sibiriscte Eeise, i. p. 70.— Hab. Sea of Ochotsk. 



13. LUTEONECTES. 



The muzzle bald, oblong, transverse, -with a straight upper and 

 lower edge ; the upper edge of the nostril bald. Ears oblong, hairy. 

 Feet rather large ; toes strong, webbed, covered with hair above, and 

 bald beneath ; toes and palm -pads well developed, those of the palm 

 separated from the toes by a broad bald space ; claws strong, acute. 

 Tail conical, covered with hair. SkuU elongate ; orbit very obscurely 

 defined behind; the flesh-tooth with a large internal lobe about two- 

 thirds of the length of the outer edge. 



The toes in this genus are strong, thick, and well webbed, rather 

 larger than in the typical Otters. 



The skulls are not quite the normal skuUs of the genus Lutra, as 

 they have scarcely an indication of any tubercle defining the upper 

 hinder portion of the orbit, and only a very obscure angle on the 

 front of the zygomatic process, defiling, or rather separating the 

 lower hinder part of the orbit from the mastoid cavity. In this 

 respect the skuUs are nearly intermediate in form between the skuUs 

 of Hydrogale and Barangia ; they have the hinder edge of the orbit 

 above and below rather more defined than in Hydrogale, and yet less 

 so than in Barangia, where the protuberances that define the orbit 

 behind are much smaller than in Hydrogale. 



The genus difiers from HydrogaU in the skin between the pads 

 being bald as in the true Otters (Lutra). It agrees with Hydrogale 

 and Lutra in the muzzle being entirely bald and square between the 

 nostrils ; while in Barangia the muzzle is entirely covered with hair. 



The nose of the skull is short ; the nasal aperture very oblique, 

 edged on each side by the narrow intermaxUlaries, which are continued 

 up and separate the front half of the nasal from the maxillse ; the 

 infraorbital foramen is very large ; the nasal extends back as far as 

 the hinder edge of the maxilla on its sides. 



Leutronectes Whiteleyi. B.M. 



Dark brown ; cheeks, lips, chin, and throat greyish white. 



? Lutra vulgaris, Temm. Fauna Japonica, p. 35 ; Schrenck, Rdsen im 



Amurlande, p. 43. 

 Lutronectes Whiteleyi, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1867, p. 181. 



Hah. Japan. 



Like many other Otters, these so closely resemble the Common 

 European Otter that I am not surprised that M. Temmiack should 

 have confounded them with that species. 



Length of body and head 172, o^ ^^^ 1^ inches. 



