Megalenhydris

Megalenhydris barbaricina is an extinct species of giant otter from the Late Pleistocene of Sardinia. It is known from a single partial skeleton, discovered in the Grotta di Ispinigoli near Dorgali, and was described in 1987.[1] It was larger than any living otter, exceeding the size of South American giant otters (Petrolutra), which can reach two meters in length.[2][3] The species is one of four extinct otter species from Sardinia and Corsica. The others are Algarolutra majori, Lutra castiglionis[4] and Sardolutra ichnusae.[5] It is suggested to have ultimately originated from the much smaller European mainland species "Lutra" simplicidens[5], which may be more closely related to Lutrogale than to modern Lutra species.[6] The structure of the teeth points to a diet of bottom dwelling fish and crustaceans.[5] A special characteristic of the species is the flattening of the first few caudal vertebrae (the remainder of the caudal vertebrae are not known). This might point to a slightly flattened tail.

Megalenhydris
Photo of holotype in situ
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Lutrinae
Genus: †Megalenhydris
Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987
Species:
†M. barbaricina
Binomial name
†Megalenhydris barbaricina
Willemsen & Maletesta, 1987

Paleoenvironment

During the Middle-Late Pleistocene Corsica and Sardinia had their own highly endemic depauperate terrestrial mammal fauna which besides Megalenhydris included the Tyrrhenian field rat, (Rhagamys orthodon) the Tyrrhenian vole (Microtus henseli), the Sardinian pika (Prolagus sardus), a shrew (Asoriculus similis), a mole (Talpa tyrrhenica), a dwarf mammoth (Mammuthus lamarmorai) the Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous), a galictine mustelid (Enhydrictis galictoides), two other species of otter (Algarolutra majori and Sardolutra ichnusae) and a deer (Praemegaceros cazioti).[7]

References
  1. G. F. Willemsen & A. Malatesta (1987). "Megalenhydris barbaricina sp. nov., a new otter from Sardinia". Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, B. 90: 83–92.
  2. Darren Naish. "Islands of otters and strange foxes". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  3. Lyras, George A.; Van Der Geer, Alexandra A. E.; Rook, Lorenzo (2010-02-10). "Body size of insular carnivores: evidence from the fossil record: Body size of fossil insular carnivores". Journal of Biogeography. 37 (6): 1007–1021. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02312.x. S2CID 53700369.
  4. Pereira, E., and M. Salotti. "Cyrnolutra castiglionis, a new otter (Mustelidae, Lutrinae) from the Middle Pleistocene'Castiglione 3CG'deposit (Oletta, Corsica)." Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Séries IIA 331.1 (2000): 45-52.
  5. Gerard F. Willemsen (2006). "Megalenhydris and its relationship to Lutra reconsidered" (PDF). Hellenic Journal of Geosciences. 41: 83–87.
  6. CHERIN, MARCO (2017-08-23). "NEW MATERIAL OF LUTRA SIMPLICIDENS (CARNIVORA, MUSTELIDAE, LUTRINAE), A KEY TAXON FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN OTTERS". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia (Research in Paleontology and Stratigraphy). 123: N. 3 (2017). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/9024.
  7. Palombo, Maria Rita; Rozzi, Roberto (2014-04-10). "How correct is any chronological ordering of the Quaternary Sardinian mammalian assemblages?". Quaternary International. SEQS 2012 Sardinia: at the Edge of the Sea. 328–329: 136–155. Bibcode:2014QuInt.328..136P. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.09.046. ISSN 1040-6182.


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