Lontra canadensis (Schreber 1777)

[Mustela] lutra Schreber 1777, Die Saugethiere, Vol. 3, 18: pl. 126. B [1776], see also text: 3 (26): 457, 588 (index) [1777]). (First occurance of name on pg. 588).

Type Locality: "Der Fischotter...Europa überall gemein... Einwohner des nordlichen Theils von Asien, bis nach Kamatschatka hinaus, und...Persian hinunter, und von Nordamerika." Miller (1912b:113) listed the type locality as "Eastern Canada ".

Vernacular Names: North American River Otter.

Subspecies::

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. canadensis Schreber 1777

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. kodiacensis Goldman 1935

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. lataxina Cuvier 1823

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. mira Goldman 1935

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. pacifica J. A. Allen 1898

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. periclyzomae Elliot 1905

Subspecies Lontra canadensis subsp. sonora Rhoads 1898

Distribution: Canada, USA (except for arid SW desert regions), USA (historical distributions of Alaska and most of contiguous 48 states exclusive of the Central Plains).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix II; IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Larivière and Walton (1998). Synonyms allocated according to Hall (1981), and Larivière and Walton (1998).