Lontra provocax Gray 1843

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Carnivora; Mustelidae; Lontra; Lontra provocax; Argentina; Patagonia; Fischotter; Loutre
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5714111; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714111

31. Southern River Otter Lontra provocax French: Loutre du Chili / German: Patagonischer Fischotter / Spanish: Huillin Other common names: Huillin Taxonomy. Lutra provocax Thomas, 1908, Patagonia. Monotypic. Distribution. Argentina and Chile. Descriptive notes. Head-body 57-61 cm, tail 35-40 cm; weight 5-10 kg, males are about 10% larger than females. This medium-sized otter is dark-brown with pale undersides and a grayish neck and throat. All four feet are fully webbed. The skull is flat, but strongly built. The dentition is broad and adapted for crushing. Habitat. Southern River Otters are found in lakes, rivers, and some coastal marshes. In Argentina, they are associated with dense mature forests that have thick undergrowth extending close to the shore of water bodies. In southern Chile, radio-tracked Southern River Otters used rivers more frequently than expected, whereas they avoided small streams. Temperate evergreen swamp forests and river and stream banks with a high density of riparian vegetation, woody debris and exposed roots, were found to be the preferred habitats; canalized rivers and streams lacking these characteristics were avoided. Food and Feeding. The diet is mostly fish (under 10 cm in length) and crustaceans, but also includes molluscs and birds. The relative importance of each food type may vary seasonally or geographically. In central Chile, the diet comprises 75% fish and 63% crustaceans; the highest occurrence of fish occurs in the spring and summer. In the southern marine habitats of Chile, Southern River Otters feed mainly on fish. In Argentina, crustaceans largely dominate the diet (99%) and fish occur rarely (less than 2%). Differences in the proportion offish and crustaceans in the diet may reflect the differential availability of prey types in different habitats: fish productivity is low in freshwater lakes compared to the oceans, which may explain the high proportion of crustaceans in freshwater lakes. Activity patterns. Primarily nocturnal, with occasional activity during the ...