Lontra longicaudis

– Data Deficient

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

ANIMALIA

Phylum:

CHORDATA

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

CARNIVORA

Family:

MUSTELIDAE

Scientific Name:

Lontra longicaudis

Species Authority:

(Olfers, 1818)

Synonym/s:

Lutra longicaudis ssp. longicaudis Olfers, 1818

Common Name/s:

English	—	LA PLATA OTTER, LONG-TAILED OTTER, NEOTROPICAL OTTER, NEOTROPICAL RIVER OTTER, SOUTH AMERICAN RIVER OTTER
French	—	LOUTRE D'AMÉRIQUE DU SUD, LOUTRE À LONGUE QUEUE
Spanish	—	GATO DE AGUA, LOBITO DE RÍO, LOBITO DEL PLATA, NUTRIA DE AGUA, PERRO DE AGUA, TAIRA

Taxonomic Notes:

Was formerly placed in the genus Lutra.

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

DD ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s:

Waldemarin, H.F.

Evaluator/s:

Hussain, S.A. & Reuther, C. (Otter Red List Authority)

Justification:

The species has an apparent wide distribution along the original range, but there are no systematic studies to evaluate the size of populations and there is no standardised information about changes in the extent of occurrence or area of occupancy. So there is no information about population size (Criteria A), number of mature animals (Criteria C and D) or quantitative analysis (Criteria E). Current geographic range appears to be similar to the historic range.

History:

1982	-	Vulnerable as Lutra platensis (Thornback and Jenkins 1982)
1986	-	Vulnerable as Lutra longicaudis longicaudis (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1988	-	Vulnerable as Lutra longicaudis longicaudis (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Vulnerable as Lutra longicaudis longicaudis (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Vulnerable as Lutra longicaudis longicaudis (Groombridge 1994)
1996	-	Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
1999	-	Data Deficient (Hilton-Taylor 2000)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	From northern Mexico to northern Argentina.
Countries:	Native: Argentina; Belize; Bolivia; Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; El Salvador; French Guiana; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Uruguay; Venezuela

Population

Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:	The Neotropical otter lives in variety of habitats, from small forest streams and rain-forests, to coastal savanna swamps. The species has been reported living in irrigation ditches, among rice fields and in sugar cane plantations.
System:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats

Threats:

There are two major threats to the species in Latin America: habitat destruction and water pollution. This otter was declared a protected species in 1973, however, it is still being hunted illegally.

Citation:	Waldemarin, H.F. 2004. Lontra longicaudis. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 September 2008.
Disclaimer:	To make use of this information, please check the Copyright and Data Disclaimer.
Feedback:	If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided.