Coming in at an average length of 3 feet long, the Southern River Otter or Lontra Provocax is an average sized mammal. Their fur (some of the densest out of any animal) is smooth and sleek, not unlike the rest of their body, for they are heavily adapted for swimming. Their webbed feet are proof of that. Because of this, they practically require a body of fresh water to live. For all you genetics fans out there, you may notice that the above otter has less webbed feet than the one to the right. That's some intraspecies natural selection at work there. Think Darwin's Finches, but all in one genus!
They are frequently found by areas with lots of plant cover or an abundance of small rocks. There's no specific plant that they require, it just has to be dense enough to hide them. This allows them to survey the area for prey while remaining unseen. Strategies like this are what keeps this little guy as the top predator in any given environment. As their name suggests, they are located in the deep south, No, not Louisiana! Their primary place of residence is the bottom tip of South Africa in Chile and Argentina, inside of a heavily wooded area near a lake. There the temperature is 47*F. Because of their thick fur, they can enjoy this temperature without getting any of hypothermia related diseases that we would. Another great thing about that area, is the abundance of other animals. Now I know that sounds broad, but otters are apex predators wherever they go, and they are some of the most adaptable carnivorous heterotrophs there are. They have been seen making a snack out of fish, crawfish, ducks, birds, bunnies and even alligators (all of which can be found in the region of Southern America that they live in)! |
They occupy the smallest habitat, out of any otter.No, that's not a bad pun. It's the truth! Despite the fact that almost all otters have been hunted for their fur at one time or another, the Southern River Otter has been pushed the closest to the brink of extinction.
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They have a big family!The Southern River Otter is closely related to many other otter species, including the North American River Otter, and the marine otter. This is good news for conservation efforts due to the fact that cross genus cloning efforts have come a long way in recent years. This offers a chance at re-population, if worst comes to worst.
This is in stark contrast to their individual populations, where families rarely consist of more than a single mother and her pups. An average Southern River Otter has 1-2 pups per litter. This isn't great for their population because their gestation period is 10-12 months (longer than a human's), meaning their re-population is extremely slow. |