| Cretan otter Temporal range: Late Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Genus: | Lutrogale |
| Species: | †L. cretensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lutrogale cretensis (Symeonides & Sondaar, 1975) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
Isolalutra cretensis | |
The Cretan otter(Lutrogale cretensis) is an extinct otter that was endemic to Crete during the Pleistocene. [2] [3]
It was a close relative of the smooth-coated otter (L. perspicillata), whom today lives only in southern Asia but had a wider distribution in the past.
The Cretan otter is the only carnivoran known from the Pleistocene of Crete. Its remains are known from only one locality (Liko Cave). [4]
The Cretan otter was similar in length to the smooth-coated otter, around 1 m (3.3 ft) long, but was more robustly built and slightly heavier.
The Cretan otter shows more terrestrial adaptations than both the smooth-coated otter and the Eurasian otter, though not to the extent seen in otters of the genus Aonyx . [5] Its skeleton combines a number of adaptations to terrestrial locomotion (e.g. the position of the teres major and the sacropelvic angle), with clear aquatic adaptations (e.g. the ratio of ilium and ischiopubis length, the large feet and somewhat flattened tail to facilitate fast underwater swimming).
This change in lifestyle likely arose due to the special conditions (such as lack of rivers) on Crete. [6]
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among other animals.
The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe.
Gavin MaxwellFRSL FZS FRGS was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water (1960) about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland. The otter was of a previously unknown sub-species which was subsequently named after Maxwell. Ring of Bright Water sold more than a million copies and was made into a film starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna in 1969.
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The Cretan wildcat is a member of the genus Felis that inhabits the Greek island of Crete. Its taxonomic status is unclear at present, as some biologists consider it probably introduced, or a European wildcat, or a hybrid between European wildcat and domestic cat. It was previously considered a separate subspecies of wildcat as Felis silvestris cretensis.
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Lutrogale was proposed as generic name by John Edward Gray in 1865 for otters with a convex forehead and nose, using the smooth-coated otter L. perspicillata as type species.
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Cyrnaonyx is an extinct genus of Lutrinae, otters from the Pleistocene. It was originally described by Helbing based on materials from France and he also attributed material from Corsica to it. The latter appeared to belong to another species and genus, Algarolutra majori. The only species of Cyrnaonyx is C. antiqua. It is known from the Pleistocene of Europe: France, Germany, Netherlands, Southern England and probably Italy.
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Hippopotamus creutzburgi, the Cretan dwarf hippopotamus, is an extinct species of hippopotamus from the island of Crete. It lived on the island from the Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene, and probably descended from Hippopotamus antiquus. It was considerably smaller than H. antiquus, weighing approximately 400 kilograms. It was one of only two large herbivores on the island during its existence, alongside Mammuthus creticus, with large predators being absent, the only other species of mammal present on the island being the giant rat Kritimys. It is known from abundant remains collected from the Katharo basin in the eastern uplands of Crete, approximately 1100-1200 metres above sea level, as well as much rarer remains found in coastal caves. Analysis of its limbs suggests that it was more adapted to terrestrial locomotion than living hippopotamus, primarily walking on its hooves rather than its footpads as in living hippopotamus, and capable of traversing the rugged terrain of Crete. Analysis of its teeth suggests that it had a grazing diet, similar to modern Hippopotamus amphibius. The previous suggestion that the species can be divided into two subspecies is not supported by modern research.
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