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An Overview Of Research On The North American River Otter
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Book Synopsis An Overview of Research on the North American River Otter by : Wayne E. Melquist
Download or read book An Overview of Research on the North American River Otter written by Wayne E. Melquist and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents an overview of the type of research that has been conducted on river otters since 1977. The data were obtained from a mail survey using a questionnaire sent in May 1984 to the principal wildlife agency for each state (except Hawaii) and each Canadian province, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cooperative Wildlife Research Units, and individuals involved with river otter research.
Book Synopsis North American River Otter by : Ellen Lawrence
Download or read book North American River Otter written by Ellen Lawrence and published by Swamp Things: Animal Life in a. This book was released on 2020 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Splash! Three playful creatures slide down a muddy slope and fall into a pond. Twisting and turning in the water, the river otter family continues its game. It's not all play, though, and soon the animals begin to hunt for fish in the murky water of their swamp home. Filled with information perfectly suited to the abilities and interests of its primary-grade audience, this colorful, fact-filled book gives readers a chance not only to learn all about river otters and the swamp habitat in which they live, but also to develop their powers of observation and critical thinking. Built-in activities, such as investigating the ways an otter's body is adapted to a life in water and guessing why mother otters push their little pups into the water, give readers a chance to gain insights beyond the facts and figures.
Book Synopsis Playful Slider by : Barbara Juster Esbensen
Download or read book Playful Slider written by Barbara Juster Esbensen and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the world of the North American river otter, describing the playful mammal's behavior and characteristics.
Download or read book Otters written by Hans Kruuk and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-08-17 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Otters are highly charismatic and popular animals of very considerable concern to conservationists worldwide. Written by the pre-eminent authority in the field, this book builds on the reputation of the author's landmark monograph of the European otter, Wild Otters (OUP, 1995). Furthermore, its broader scope to include all species of otter in North America as well as Europe and elsewhere leads to a deeper synthesis that greatly expands the book's overall relevance and potential readership. Aimed at naturalists, scientists and conservationists, its personal style and generously illustrated text will appeal to amateurs and professionals alike. It emphasises recent research and conservation management initiatives for all 13 species of otter worldwide, incorporates recent molecular research on taxonomy and population genetics, and discusses the wider implications of otter studies for ecology and conservation biology. As well as enchanting direct observations of the animals, there is guidance about how and where to watch and study them. From otters in the British and American lakes and rivers, to sea otters in the Pacific Ocean, giant otters in the Amazon and other species in Africa and Asia, this book provides an engaging approach to their fascinating existence, to the science needed to understand it, and to the very real threats to their survival.
Download or read book Otters of the World written by Paul Yoxon and published by Whittles. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The illegal wildlife trade in otters is huge - not just for furs and body parts but as pets
Book Synopsis Resilience and Sensitivity to Changing Environments in North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis) by : Danaan DeNeve Weeks
Download or read book Resilience and Sensitivity to Changing Environments in North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis) written by Danaan DeNeve Weeks and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The North American river otter is a semiaquatic carnivore that occupies freshwater habitats across most of North America, and is a conservation symbol across most of its range. It is used as an indicator species, a keystone species, an umbrella species, and an example of conservation success. The broad distribution of river otters suggests a broad range of habitat tolerances, but they appear to be highly sensitive to anthropogenic habitat alterations. This apparently conflicting robustness across habitat types and sensitivity to habitat change has baffled researchers for decades. Using morphometric, modeling, and synthetic approaches I explored how otters relate to their environment on a broad scale to gain a better understanding of the conditions to which they are robust, the conditions to which they are sensitive, and the mechanisms by which they adapt to varying environments. Using Maximum Entropy species distribution models I determined that river otter distributions are not strongly affected by climate or macro-environmental variables. Using geometric morphometric methods to examine how cranial shape varies across geographic and ecological space, I determined that morphological variation which may affect feeding and locomotion occurs more intensely at local than broad scales, indicating local morphological adaptation is not strong in this species. Finally, a review of the phylogeography and ecology of river otters and related species indicated that this species evolved from a low-speciation lineage that tends to produce species that can occupy a wide variety of environments without undergoing evolutionary change. Overall I determined that river otters do indeed have a broad ecological niche, and do not respond strongly to climatic or environmental differences or changes across their habitats through altering their distributions or locally adapting. Evidence suggests that river otters may respond strongly to anthropogenic alterations of their habitats because anthropogenically-induced habitat alterations tend to have strong consequences for aquatic food chains, and otters may be more reliant on robust food webs than they are on other aspects of their habitats. These findings have implications for how we think of otter conservation and the conservation of species and ecosystems that are strongly affected by otter presence, as well as what otters indicate about their habitat quality. Additionally, these results may shed light on the ecologies of other mustelid carnivores. In the first chapter of my dissertation I conducted a review of the phylogenetics and biogeography of North and South American river otters to investigate how geography and environmental change have driven river otter evolution in the Americas, and how this informs the ecology of the modern species. I focused first on reviewing the biogeography and evolutionary history of Lontra and Pteronura, and then on the modern ecology, threats, and conservations status of each of the four modern species of Lontra and the single extant species of Pteronura. I chose to review these species because they overlap in geographic and environmental space, and because their shared history provides means for an evolutionarily-grounded examination of relative rarity, specialization, and level of conservation concern. I found that speciation between American otters primarily occurs allopatrically, and there is little functional differentiation in response to allopatric speciation, though they do appear to have the ability to adapt in response to extreme conditions when necessary. Additionally, allopatric speciation primarily occurs in response to changes in waterway connectivity, which is also responsible for changes in population connectivity within the modern species. Most otters have less specific habitat requirements than previously thought, as all species of Lontra persist across a wide variety of climates and semi-aquatic environments, and most of them do so without exhibiting a strong evolutionary response. All American river otters exhibit a strong sensitivity to anthropogenic habitat destruction, though several of them have also shown some ability to coexist with humans. Evidence from this study provides strong indication that this has to do with how human activities near waterways affect food webs, and more generally that on closer examination many habitat components previously thought to be requirements for otters may be better interpreted as indicators of food availability. In the second chapter of my dissertation I use species distribution modeling to examine river otter associations with climate and environment across their range to explore their apparently conflicting robustness to habitat change and sensitivity to human presence. Specifically, I examined the climate and landcover variables that constrain the geographic distribution of otters. I obtained otter occurrences from GBIF and BISON biodiversity databases, climate variables from BIOCLIM, and environmental layers from NASA's SEDAC program. I built Maximum Entropy species distribution models at 80 and 150 km spatial thinning and varying numbers of background points. The combined model at 80 km spatial thinning and default number of background points produced the highest quality models. Six climatic and landcover variables explained over 10% of otter distributions each: open shrubland, net primary productivity, urban/built, water, annual mean temperature, and precipitation of coldest quarter. Of these variables I determined that water, annual mean temperature, and precipitation of coldest quarter likely have biological significance. However, the predicted range map generated by these models do not match river otter distributions generated by the IUCN and NatureServe. This is likely due to incomplete occurrence data because of low reporting in parts of the species range. I conclude based on these data that river otters have broad climatic and habitat tolerances (as there are six weakly predictive variables as opposed to 1-2 strongly controlling variables) and that local habitat factors, such as intact-ness of riverine food webs, may have greater impact on otter distributions than broad regional variables. Additionally, I call for improved monitoring and reporting of this and other broadly-distributed species to ensure we can adequately track their habitat requirements and conservation status. In the third chapter of my dissertation I use geometric morphometrics to explore the role of cranial morphological variation in otter persistence across the array of otter habitats. I address two research questions: 1. Is there morphological variation and structure in river otters across subspecies? 2. Is morphological variation in river otters best explained by a pattern of isolation by distance or isolation by ecology? I obtained 100 river otter crania from across the species range from museums. I 3-D scanned them using a Geomagic 3-D scanner and landmarked them using the IDAV Landmark program. To answer Q1 I conducted discriminant function analyses Procrustes ANOVAs and a Principal Components Analysis. None of these tests revealed strong morphological patterning, indicating there is not morphological differentiation across subspecies in cranial shape. T address Q2 I conducted Mantel tests and a Multiple Matrix Regression with Randomization (MMRR) on the relationship between morphological distance and geographic, climatic, and environmental distance. Both the Mantel test and the MMRR results indicated no significant relationship between morphological distance and climatic or environmental distance in otter crania. Both indicated a weak but negative relationship between morphological distance and geographic distance, indicating morphological variation is greater at short geographic distances and lower at broad geographic distances. I conclude that there is significant cranial variation between individuals, but little definable structure in this variation. The weak but significant (and potentially complex) relationship between geographic and morphological distance indicates the possibility that diversifying selection across smaller spatial scales may be more important than differentiation across broader populations, possibly indicating individual specialization within a generalist population.
Book Synopsis Little Otter Learns to Swim by : Artie Knapp
Download or read book Little Otter Learns to Swim written by Artie Knapp and published by Ohio University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-12 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this endearing and beautifully illustrated picture book, a baby river otter learns to swim, dive, and play in her natural habitat. Encouraged by her mother, the little otter soon sets out to explore on her own, quickly learning to escape shoreline predators and to find her way back to the security of home. From children’s author Artie Knapp and wildlife artist Guy Hobbs, Little Otter Learns to Swim is an entertaining and colorful tale for ages four and up. The story is followed by two pages of fun facts about river otters as well as information and resources from the River Otter Ecology Project.
Book Synopsis Return of the Sea Otter by : Todd McLeish
Download or read book Return of the Sea Otter written by Todd McLeish and published by Sasquatch Books. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Captivating. . . . a full portrait of this adorable and ecologically important animal." —Publishers Weekly A science journalist travels the Pacific Coast in search of sea otters in this entertaining and inspiring book on the importance and history of this charismatic endangered species Sea otters—the adorable, furry marine mammals often seen floating on their backs holding hands—reveal the health of the coastal ecosystem along the Pacific Ocean. Once hunted for their prized fur in the 18th and 19th centuries, these animals nearly went extinct. Only now, nearly a century after hunting ceased, are populations showing stable growth in some places. Sea otters are a keystone species in coastal areas, feeding on sea urchins, clams, crab, and other crustaceans. When they are present, kelp beds are thick and healthy, providing homes for an array of sea life. When otters disappear, sea urchins take over, and the kelp disappears along with all the creatures that live in the beds. Now, thanks to their protected status, sea otters are making a comeback in California, Washington, and Alaska. In this hopeful book, science writer Todd McLeish embarks on an epic journey along the Pacific Coast—traveling from California to Alaska—to track the status, health, habits, personality, and viability of sea otters, and reveals how conservationists brought them back from the brink of extinction.
Book Synopsis River Otters: Aquatic Clowns by : Dr. Richard A. NeSmith
Download or read book River Otters: Aquatic Clowns written by Dr. Richard A. NeSmith and published by Applied Principles of Education & Learning. This book was released on 2020-08-12 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you ever wonder about the life of otters? Do you know where they sleep? Do you want to learn about their social behaviors, diet, or how they swim through the water so gracefully? Anything and everything you ever wondered about these curious creatures can be found in this easy to read, informative book. The wonderful pictures included in this book have captured some of the many reasons people are drawn to these adorable animals over the years. I have personally worked with many different animals, and I can honestly say that otters are genuinely one of the most interesting of the animal kingdom. Once you read this book, you will understand why I, as well as many others, have a fascination with otters. Laurie Aleixo, DVM, Fort Pierce, Florida
Book Synopsis Determinants of Social Behavior in Captive North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis) by : Olivia R. Beasley
Download or read book Determinants of Social Behavior in Captive North American River Otters (Lontra Canadensis) written by Olivia R. Beasley and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "While scientists have conducted some behavioral research on wild river otters, detailed studies of interactions are difficult for a species that ranges widely. A full understanding of river otter social patterns requires captive studies, however, as yet few such studies have been done. To help fill this gap we carried out a study of the social behavior of a group of captive river otters. We tested three hypotheses: first, that male otters would engage in more social behavior than females; second, that most social behavior among conspecifics would occur during the early evening; and third, that most social behavior would occur in the terrestrial portion of the exhibit (analogous to latrine sites). Data were collected at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, TN, over 8 weeks in June-July 2017"--Abstract, leaf ii.
Download or read book Wild Otters written by Hans Kruuk and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 1995-02-23 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence pointing to a decline in the European Otter population (Lutra lutra) is causing concern among ecologists and conservationists. This important new book written from direct observation of otter populations in Scotland, is the first attempt at a scientific description of populations and behaviour of this species. This essential research offers a fascinating insight into the ecology of mammals living in a hostile environment and provides a much needed basis for active conservation management.
Book Synopsis Primate Psychology by : Dario Maestripieri
Download or read book Primate Psychology written by Dario Maestripieri and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In more ways than we may sometimes care to acknowledge, the human being is just another primate--it is certainly only very rarely that researchers into cognition, emotion, personality, and behavior in our species and in other primates come together to compare notes and share insights. This book, one of the few comprehensive attempts at integrating behavioral research into human and nonhuman primates, does precisely that--and in doing so, offers a clear, in-depth look at the mutually enlightening work being done in psychology and primatology. Relying on theories of behavior derived from psychology rather than ecology or biological anthropology, the authors, internationally known experts in primatology and psychology, focus primarily on social processes in areas including aggression, conflict resolution, sexuality, attachment, parenting, social development and affiliation, cognitive development, social cognition, personality, emotions, vocal and nonvocal communication, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopathology. They show nonhuman primates to be far more complex, cognitively and emotionally, than was once supposed, with provocative implications for our understanding of supposedly unique human characteristics. Arguing that both human and nonhuman primates are distinctive for their wide range of context-sensitive behaviors, their work makes a powerful case for the future integration of human and primate behavioral research.
Download or read book North American River Otter written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis North American River Otters by : John Becker
Download or read book North American River Otters written by John Becker and published by Kidhaven. This book was released on 2002 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the near extinction, return, and future of river otters.
Book Synopsis Mammals of North America by : Nora Bowers
Download or read book Mammals of North America written by Nora Bowers and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2004 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compact, comprehensive field reference treats every species of wild mammal found north of the Mexican border--from squirrels and chipmunks to grizzly bears and jaguars--as well as those in North America's offshore waters. More than 1,200 images.
Book Synopsis An Annotated Bibliography on the North American River Otter by : Renn Tumlison
Download or read book An Annotated Bibliography on the North American River Otter written by Renn Tumlison and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification by : Thomas Allen Jefferson
Download or read book Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification written by Thomas Allen Jefferson and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2011-08-29 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With coverage on all the marine mammals of the world, authors Jefferson, Webber, and Pitman have created a user-friendly guide to identify marine mammals alive in nature (at sea or on the beach), dead specimens “in hand , and also to identify marine mammals based on features of the skull. This handy guide provides marine biologists and interested lay people with detailed descriptions of diagnostic features, illustrations of external appearance, beautiful photographs, dichotomous keys, and more. Full color illustrations and vivid photographs of every living marine mammal species are incorporated, as well as comprehendible maps showing a range of information. For readers who desire further consultation, authors have included a list of literature references at the end of each species account. For an enhanced understanding of habitation, this guide also includes recognizable geographic forms described separately with colorful paintings and photographs. All of these essential tools provided make Marine Mammals of the World the most detailed and authoritative guide available! * Contains superb photographs of every species of marine mammal for accurate identification * Authors’ collective experience adds up to 80 years, and have seen nearly all of the species and distinctive geographic forms described in the guide * Provides the most detailed and anatomically accurate illustrations currently available * Special emphasis is placed on the identification of species in “problem groups, such as the beaked whales, long-beaked oceanic dolphin, and southern fur seals * Includes a detailed list of sources for more information at the back of the book.