L. simimg ( i . ' This Otter may he indicated as L. ellwti. One peculiarity
of the milk dentition of this species is the presence on the hinder margin of
the canine, near its hase, of a prominent, well-defined cusp, above which the tooth
is thickened ; no such cusp exists in the milk-teeth!of a young example of L. nwr
before me, hut I have never seen a young skull of the Simimg.
The colour of this Otter is much the same as in the Simimg, only a little darker,
and the distribution of the silvery white is the same. The more depressed and
shallower character of the muzzle must confer a different character on the head of
the living animal as compared with L. Sirnrng, and hoth these species are doubtless
distinguished from L. nair hy broader and more arched heads and shorter muzzles.
I t may he that this Otter has a north-westerly distribution, and that it is the
species which occurs in the lake at Mount Ahu, in Rajputana, and also in Sindh and
in t h e I n d u s . I ' ■ ‘ '
The skull in the British Museum (No. 214e, 48, 6, 11, 14) referred hy
Dr Gray to the genus Bttrcmgia under the name nepaletms is considerably smaller
than the previous skulls. The obscure character of the frontal angles of the orbit,
appears to be due to abrasion, and the skull has all the characters of. a true IMra
The teeth are much smaller than in L. simimg, and the skull is seemingly fully
adult, as the sutures havè all disappeared. I t belongs, then, to a small Otter, and as
the skull was forwarded hy Hodgson and is quite distinct from the other skulls sent
by him, it is possible that it may he the skull of the smallest of his true Imtrv, viz.;
L. aurobrunnea, which Gray1 has erroneously referred to the genus T1f
type specimen is in the British Museum, and is a true, long-clawed Otter. There is
no evidence whatever that a hirsute-noséd Otter exists in the Himalaya.
The type of the species L. amobrwmea is a very badly preserved skm of a
rich, ferruginous, brown colour of almost equal intensity above and below and on
all parts of the head and neck, thé upper surface of the head being deeper brown
than the hack. The nose is hare, and the ears are small, and rather pointed
posteriorly, All the strong bristles of the moustache, eyes, cheeks, and chin are
dark brown. The claws are developed; as in true Zutra, and the upper surface of
the webs are semi-nude, and on their under surfaces there are a few scattered hairs.
Hodgson describes this species as having a more vermiform habit of body-than any
of the other Asiatic Otters ; the tail is less than two-thirds of the length of the
body; the nails and toes are feebly developed; the fur is rather long and roug ,'
and the colour rich chestnut-brown above, and golden red below and on the
extremities.
Inches.
Length from muzzle to root of tail i •' • • • 20 to 22
„ rftafi .......................... ' 12 40 13
Nothing is known regarding the distribution of this form beyond that it is
a mountain species.
1 Cat. Camiv. Mamm. etc., B. M. 1869, p. 111.
I t would thus appear that in the Himalaya and India there are four distinct
species of long-clawed Otters,—viz., L. nair, L. si/nvwtig (==L. montieola), L. ellioti,
and L. cmrobrv/n/nea; and one species distinguished by its short claws,—viz., L . (A.)
leptonyx. The Himalayan small-clawed Otter, the Lutra {A.) i/ndigitata of Hodgson,
is seemingly identical with L. leptonyx, Horsfield, hut this point cannot he
definitely settled until a skull of the former has been compared with Malayan
examples of the latter species. I have compared the type of L. (A.) horsfieldii,
Gray, with the type of L. (A.) leptowyx, and do not detect any difference
either in the skins or skulls by which they might he separated. It may be
that the Southern Indian variety of L. (A.) leptonyx may prove to be a distinct
species, and that it may extend into Ceylon, because two species apparently occur in
that island, the larger of the two being L. navr. In the Malayan peninsula and
Sumatra, L. {Aonyx) leptonyx and L. simimg are associated with the hirsute-nosed
Otter L. sumatra/na, Gray. L. (A.) leptonyx occurs in Formosa, judging from the
fragment of the skull referred by Dr. Gray to Lutrogale, to Sydrogale, and to
Lutra swmhoei, and is apparently distributed over Southern China, and occurs also
in Hainan,1 the Malayan peninsula, Burma, Assam, Bengal, and the Himalaya.
Among the Otter skins procured in Yunnan, there are two much more brightly
coloured than the generality of skins of L . (A .) leptonyx, but in the absence of
skulls, I can throw no further light on them. The species occurs in the hills and
valleys to the east of Bham6.
1 Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soo. 1870, p. 229.