''Lutra castiglionis'', the Castiglione otter or Corsican otter, is an extinct species of

otter 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 wea ...

that was endemic to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

Taxonomy

''Lutra castiglionis'' was described in 2000, originally under a new genus, ''Cyrnolutra''. In 2006, it was transferred into the genus ''Lutra''. A possible ancestor of this species is ''

Lutra simplicidens ''Lutra'' is a genus of otters, one of seven in the subfamily Lutrinae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus includes these species: Extant species Extinct species *†''Lutra affinis'' *†''Lutra bressana '' *†''Lutra bravardi'' *†''Lu ...

'', known from mainland

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Description

The Castiglione otter was probably very well adapted to a riverine aquatic way of life. Remains show a flattening of the

sacrum The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...

, indicating it had a much stronger tail than most other otters, which would allow it to propel itself more efficiently in aquatic environments. Remains of the Castiglione otter are known from Castiglione Cave in Corsica. These fossils have been dated to the Mid Pleistocene, approximately 157,500 BP (+22,200/-17,300).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107987062 Otters Prehistoric mustelids Pleistocene carnivorans Prehistoric mammals of Europe Pleistocene mammals of Europe Mustelidae