Lontra Gray, 1843

W. Christopher Wozencraft, 1993, Order Carnivora, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 279-348 : 310

Lontra Gray, 1843 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., [ser. 1], 11:118.

TYPE SPECIES: Lutra canadensis Gray, 1843 .

SYNONYMS: Latax Gray, 1843 ; Lataxina Gray, 1843 ; Nutria Gray, 1865 .

COMMENTS: Van Zyll de Jong (1972, 1987, 1991a) argued that the New World otters represent a single radiation and questioned whether Lutra (sensu stricto) or Aonyx was the closest sister group. There has been no published work to refute his hypothesis, although it has not received general acceptance. Hall (1981) chose not to question the monophyletic nature of the group, but to lower it to the subgeneric rank, feeling that the characters where not sufficient enough to warrant generic distinction. Regardless of the "morphological gap" between the monophyletic New World otters and the Old World otters, if Lutra (sensu stricto) is the closest sister group, then inclusion within Lutra could be maintained. However, if, as van Zyll de Jong (1987) suggested, Aonyx is the closest outgroup, then recognition at the generic level is necessary.