Asian small-clawed otter

Asian small-clawed otter, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1007641 / CC BY SA 3.0 #IUCN_Red_List_vulnerable_species #Otters #Mammals_of_Bangladesh #Mammals_of_China #Mammals_of_India #Carnivorans_of_Malaysia #Mammals_of_Nepal #Mammals_of_Singapore #Mammals_of_Southeast_Asia #Fauna_of_South_China The Asian small-clawed otter （Aonyx cinereus）, also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its webbed digits. With a total body length of 730 to 960 mm （28.6 to 37.6 in）, it is the smallest otter species in the world. The Asian small-clawed otter lives in riverine habitats, freshwater wetlands and mangrove swamps. It feeds on molluscs, crabs and other small aquatic animals. It lives in pairs, but was also observed in family groups with up to 12 individuals. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and in some areas also by hunting. Lutra cinerea was the scientific name proposed by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1815 for an otter collected in Batavia. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several zoological specimens were described: Results of a mitochondrial cytochrome B analysis published in 1998 indicated that it should be subordinated to the genus Aonyx. Results of a molecular study published in 2008 showed that the Asian small-clawed otter is a sister taxon of Lutrogale, lending support to retaining the genus Amblonyx or expanding Aonyx to make it monophyletic. They genetically diverged about 1. 5 million years ago. The Asian small-clawed otter groups with the African clawless otter （Aonyx capensis） and the smooth-coated otter （Lutrogale perspicillata） into a sister clade with the genus Lutra. Hybridisation of Asian small-clawed otter females with smooth-coated otter males occurred in Singapore. The resulting offspring and their descendants bred back into the smooth-...