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Scientists discover large extinct otter, Siamogale melilutra, from the Miocene Shuitangba site in northeastern Yunnan Province in China. The prehistoric otter was the size of a modern wolf and is one of the largest otter species known to science. This discovery represents groundbreaking research into the evolution of a little-known fossil genus of the otter family.
This otter belongs to an ancient lineage of extinct otters that was previously known only from isolated teeth recovered from Thailand. The discovery of a complete cranium, mandible, dentition and various skeletal elements at Shuitangba provides information about the taxonomy, evolutionary history and functional morphology of this new species.Image credit: Mauricio Anton
