''Enhydrictis'' is a genus of extinct

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborde ...

, belonging to the subfamily Galictinae. The type species, and best known, is ''Enhydrictis galictoides'' from the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. Some authors attribute species from mainland Eurasia to the genus, but this is disputed, with others considering the genus endemic to Sardinia-Corsica.

Taxonomy

The exact number of species of ''Enhydrictis'' has been a matter of debate. One species of '' Pannonictis'', ''Pannonictis pilgrimi'', has been classified as a belonging to ''Enhydrictis'' (as ''Enhydrictis ardea''), although this is unlikely. A 2019 study also suggests that the genus '' Oriensictis'' of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

should be considered a synonym of ''Enhydrictis'' as well. In 2016, a new species from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

was described. Known as ''Enhydrictis hoffstetteri'', it is the first member of the genus known from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Other scholars have considered the attribution of this species to ''Enhydrictis'' doubtful, and that the species should be placed in ''Pannonictis'' instead. In 2018 a new species, ''Enhydrictis praegalictoides'', was described from Middle Pleistocene aged sites on Sardinia; it is likely ancestral to ''E. galictoides''. The Corsica-Sardinian species of ''Enhydrictis'' are thought to have evolved from a ''Pannonictis''-like ancestor. ''Enhydrictis'' and its relatives are classified as belonging to the subfamily Galictinae and the tribe Galictini. While Galictini was widespread in Eurasia during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...

, the only extant members of the tribe, the grisons ('' Galictis'') and the Patagonian weasel ('' Lyncodon''), are endemic to Central and South America.

Description

''Enhydrictis galictoides'' was a fairly large, robust terrestrial mustelid. When first described, it was considered to be an otter-like species adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, but studies on the limb bones do not support such claims.

Paleoecology

Before the arrival of humans on the islands in about 8000 BC, during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, Corsica and Sardinia had their own highly

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

depauperate terrestrial mammal fauna which included a species of dwarf

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

('' Mammuthus lamarmorai''), the Tyrrhenian vole ('' Microtus henseli''), the Sardinian pika ('' Prolagus sardus''), the Tyrrhenian field rat ('' Rhagamys orthodon'') one or two species of shrew belonging to the genus '' Asoriculus'', a mole ('' Talpa tyrrhenica''), the Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous''), three species of

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

('' Algarolutra majori, Sardolutra ichnusae, Megalenhydris barbaricina'') and a deer ('' Praemegaceros cazioti''). All of these species are now extinct.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108030483 Pleistocene carnivorans Prehistoric mustelids Pleistocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric carnivoran genera