58 
Habitat.—North America at large, being somewhat sparingly distribu- 
ted over most of the waters of the continent; said to occur in Central 
America. 
The Otter appears to be nowhere in great abundance, nor yet wanting 
in few if any localities adapted to its habits. Its wildness, wariness, and 
sagacity, and the nature of its haunts, all conduce to its existence even 
in well settled districts. Mr. Allen speaks of it as not rare in Massachu- 
setts in 1869. One was brought to the Smithsonian Institution in 1874, 
taken from the Potomac near Washington City. It is still abundant in 
Florida, where the natural thinness of its fur tends to its preservation. 
The “ Eastern Shore” of Maryland seems to have always been a favorite 
resort of the Otter. It is abundant northward, 11,000 skins being set 
down for 1873, in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s London quotations. The 
southern limits of distribution are not settled; ao unquestionable evi- 
dence is at hand of its occurrence in Mexico. 
Specific Characters.—Orbits well defined by prominent conical post- 
orbital processes, the distance between the tips of which is one-half or 
more of the intermastoid width of the skull; inner depressed moiety of 
posterior upper premolar as large and nearly as long as the main outer 
moiety; general dentition strong; naked nasal pad (an inch long or 
broad in full-grown individuals) extending back above the nostrils in a 
\/-shaped outline, reaching below the nostrils with a straight transverse 
border, which sometimes sends a slight spur part way down the median 
line of the lip; palms hairy between the digits isolating the individual 
bald digital bulbs, and having an isolated patch or carpal peninsula of 
hair posteriorly ; soles hairy between the digits, isolating the individual 
digital bulbs, much encroached upon by hair from behind, and having 
three or four peculiar, small, circular, elevated callosities arranged around 
the posterior border of the main bald plantar surface ; (form, stature, and 
coloration not diagnostic ;) finally attaining a length of four feet or more; 
liver-brown, with purplish gloss, paler on the under surface of the head, 
throat, and breast. 
Eaternal Characters—The massive columnar body without constricted 
neck ; small, round head; small eyes and ears; long, taper tail; short, 
stout limbs; broad webbed feet; close-set, glossy hair, and abundant 
wooly under-fur, common to the genus, are shared by the Otter. The 
nasal pad is well developed, bald, in general shape an equilateral penta- 
gon; the whiskers are short, stout, stiff bristles, in several series; the 
eyes are small, nearer the muzzle than the ear; the ears are small, with 
a thin, pointed conch, about as long as the adjacent fur; the entrance is 
covered with fur ; the short, front limb has a stout wrist, and broad, flat 
