These fast, schooling fishes are calorically rich and therefore may be more desirable than other prey choices. No, PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143236. [37]). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143236, Editor: Kornelius Kupczik, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, GERMANY, Received: April 9, 2015; Accepted: November 1, 2015; Published: December 9, 2015, Copyright: © 2015 Timm-Davis et al. Longer muscle fibers can increase maximum muscle excursion (i.e., the distance a muscle fiber can shorten) [73]. No, Is the Subject Area "Skull" applicable to this article? Asian small-clawed otters, like North American river otters, consume a broader spectrum of prey than sea otters and giant river otters, which may be why these two species fell out relatively intermediately on of the feeding type axis, representing perhaps greater feeding generalization and making for a magnitude of variation within foraging types similar to that between foraging types (Fig 2, Table 2). No institution, for example, has successfully raised giant otter cubs unless parents were provided sufficient privacy measures; the stress caused by human visual and acoustic interference can lead to neglect, abuse and infanticide, as well as decreased lactation.
The fur is very dense, and is concentrated to roughly 57,800 hairs per cm2 (Lerivière and Walton, 1998).
North American river otters and giant river otters are mouth-oriented predators that possess long mandibles, rostrums, and long and gracile pterygoid hamuli. Hand-oriented feeding, and the concomittant morphology, would be considered a single derived state as indicated by the red branches below. [64], Even if without direct predation, the giant otter must still compete with other predators for food resources. Within Mustelidae, Lutrinae, which includes both river and sea otters, is most closely related to Mephitinae, the skunks (Wyss and Flynn, 1993). [4] They are weaned by nine months and begin hunting successfully soon after.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143236.g003. Significant differences in the masseteric mechanical advantage (MAmasseter) were shown among otter species (F3,146 = 63.4; P < 10−25). Wyss, A. R. and J. J. Flynn. Although the fossil record of Lutrinae in North America extends to the Lower and Upper Pliocene, evidence suggests that otters originated in Eurasia. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, Kellnhauser, J. T. 1983. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143236.s004. The rank order of means (smallest to largest) for the otter species was giant river (0.79) > sea (0.93) > Asian small clawed (0.97) > river (1.05). The giant otter seems to have evolved independently of Lontra in South America, despite the overlap. Similar to giant river otters, North American river otters possessed relatively long mandibles with a relatively low MBI, which should place the resulting force (any bite location such as canines, carnassials, back molars) farther from the TMJ, again providing the advantage of high velocity jaws to catch fast prey in open water.
Residuals were then saved and used to test for significant differences among species. View this model on Sketchfab :https://sketchfab.com/models/d02667e270894af8a7035fe076ec58e1/embed?utm_source=website&utm_campaign=blocked_scripts_error, Or visit the Help Center for more information:https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-us/articles/203059088-Compatibility?utm_source=website&utm_campaign=blocked_scripts_error#troubleshooting-scripts.
Slightly Pathological: skulls that exhibit a …
[65] While the two species are sympatric (with overlapping ranges) during certain seasons, there appeared to be no serious conflict. [38] Duplaix suggests a division between "residents", who are established within groups and territories, and nomadic and solitary "transients"; the categories do not seem rigid, and both may be a normal part of the giant otter life cycle. = 0.90), mainly in that Asian small clawed otters were small and their size range did not overlap the other species (Tukey’s HSD, P < 0.05), though the other species, particularly the largest two species (sea otters and giant river otter), broadly overlapped in size and were not significantly different.
While revealing of the affection held for the animals, the seizure was a profound blow to the breeding pair, which went on to lose their territory to competitors. The North American river otter's streamlined shape allows it to glide through the water. Variation was also observed in the cranial morphology among sea otter subspecies.