The North American River Otter

By: Alex Fields

The Phylogeny of River Otters

• Kingdom: Animalia• Phylum: Chordata• Subphylum: Vertebrata• Class: Mammalia• Order: Carnivora• Suborder: Caniformia• Family: Mustelidae• Subfamily: Lutrinae• Genus: Lontra• Species: Lontra canadensis

Do U Know Otters???

• River otters are found all along the North American coast.

• They burrow close to the water's edge in river, lake, swamp, coastal shoreline, tidal flat, or estuary ecosystems.

• They feed on an extensive assortment of fish species, crustaceans (mostly crawfish), frogs, waterfowl, and insects.

Take A Look

What Makes them so Cool?

• River otters have a thick top layer of waterproof fur. This helps them glide through the water.

• River otters grow guard hairs under their water-proof fur to keep from freezing in the winter.

• They have webbed toes on both their hind and fore legs to propel themselves in water.

• Their tales are long and tapered. They are used as paddles to help them steer themselves in the water.

The Fam

• River otter families usually consist of the mother and her progeny, but it is not unusual for adult males to establish enduring families of 17 members or more.

• In such families, there are helpers. They are unrelated adults and youths who help to care for the family.

• A female's litter is usually forced to leave when she gives birth to another set.

Breeding

• Male river otters typically ignore females until mating season begins.

• Once mating season begins, they mate with several females that live near or within their territory.

• Females are able to mate once again 20 weeks after the birth of a litter, and the males take full advantage of this. (Awwwhhh Yeahhh)

• Though not strictly territorial, male otters commonly have bitter battles with one another to claim a female they both want.

They’ve been really busy

Carrying capacity at about 6500 members

The Neighbors

• River otters habitually make use of dens, dams, and ponds formed by beavers.

• Some times they will even share the same den

• But the relationship does not go both ways. Beavers get little to nothing out of their relationship with river otters, and many times have to mend dens that otters carelessly destroy.

But There’s a Problem…

Uh Oh!!!!

The Madness!!!

• Everyday, river otters are affected by the oil spill in the gulf.

• There were twelve confirmed river otter deaths the day following the spill.

• The oil spill threatens to wipe out their whole population in the Southern coast

Here’s the testimony of one of the Victims

The Solution (and many other ideas)

• The river otters on the gulf coast could be relocated to the California coast.

• The Louisiana river otters could be moved to preserves and zoos up and out of state.

• The spill could be cleaned up.(Like that's going to happen anytime soon )

• The government could get it together and think of something!!!(lol…but this rly isn’t a laughing matter. They really need our help.)

The End-I mean Future

• The river otters are faced with two problems.

Their main food sources being wiped out by the oil spill (shrimp, and the fish that eat them).

– Poison from the oil, which would wipe them out.

• Without some divine intervention,(because the government won't) their will be no more Louisiana river otters in the near future. Survivors will probably be relocated to safer areas away from the spill.

Citations

1) "North American River Otter." National Geographic. National geographic, 1996. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/american-river-otter.html>.

2) "North American River Otter." Chattooga Conservancy . Chattooga Conservancy , 2007 . Web. 17 May 2010. <http://www.chattoogariver.org/index.php?quart=Sp2004&req=otter>.

3) "THE RIVER OTTER (Lutra canadensis) ." luddist. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://www.luddist.com/otter.htm>.

4) "North American River Otter ." Wikipedia. N.p., 19 May 2010. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_River_Otter>.

5) "Endangered Species: River Otter ." Christiansburg Elementary . N.p., 1997. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://neyture.info/teachered/endanger/reports/mammals/otter~river/otter~river.html>.

Bye Bye