Otters can be prolific creatures known for being mainly fish eaters. Otters are closely related to beavers. Otters today are small, but a large otter has recently been discovered. A giant otter has been discovered by scientists.
Otters are semi-aquatic mammals. They are mostly small creatures and could be playful with their pups. A large otter though has been discovered in China recently. The giant otter lived around 6.2 million years ago.
The giant otter is said to have the size that of a wolf. It is estimated that the giant otter could weigh as much as 110 pounds. The giant otter has been discovered in Yunnan province in China. Denise Su, co-author of the study on the giant otter, said that the discovery is significant since it included a complete cranium of the giant otter. She is also the head of Paleobotany and Paleoecology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
CT scans were made of the cranium and other parts due to the fossil being fragile. This would help scientists study the giant otter specimen in much detail. Much like otters today, the giant otter's diet most likely consisted of shellfish and mollusks, according to Fox News.
Compared to otters today, the giant otter is large. It is twice the size of the South American giant river otter. With the Eurasian otter it is about four times the size of it. The discovery is significant as the only fossil of it before the discovery were teeth found in Thailand.
The giant otter lived in the ancient swamps of China a long time ago, as Living Science reports. Scientists will be studying the fossil remains of the giant otter in order to know more about how it lived. More would soon be known about the ancient giant otter species.
Evolution has brought some of the largest creatures in the past. One of those large creatures is the giant otter. A giant otter has been discovered by scientists. A study has shown that insects carry out the largest migrations today.
