Giant otters the size of wolves lived in rivers and Watch Project Power Onlinelakes in south-western China some 6.2 million years ago, scientists have discovered.
The otter, named Siamogale melilutra, weighed about 50kg (110 pounds) and measured up to 2 metres (6.6 feet) in length, according to research published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
SEE ALSO: Otters sledding through the snow will make you fall in love with winterFossils of the otter, which include a skull, jawbone and teeth, were discovered by palaeontologists at the Shuitangba open-pit lignite mine in China's Yunnan province.
The skull had been crushed during the fossilisation process, so scientists used a CT scanner to help virtually reconstruct a complete image.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable The fossils also revealed that the otters had a powerful jaw with large cheeks, believed to have helped it eat large shellfish and freshwater mollusks, which were found abundantly at Shuitangba.
"From the vegetation and other animal groups found at Shuitangba, we know that it was a swampy, shallow lake with quite dense vegetation", said Dr Denise Su, Curator and Head of Paleobotany and Paleoecology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
The scientists hope that further studies of the otters will yield more answers as to how they lived their life.
"The discovery of the otter helps solve some questions but opened the door to new questions...why was it so large, how did it crack open mollusks for food and how did it move in the water and on land?" said Dr Wang Xiaoming, Head of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
"Continued studies will address these fundamental questions and give us a more complete picture."
Currently, the world's largest otter is the South American giant river otter, which weighs up to 31kg.
Previous：Sweet, Sweet Existentialism
What a great week to be a woman in media!!
'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for June 20
Book Blasphemy, and Other News by Sadie Stein
MIDNATT and Supertone CEO Lee Kyogu on bringing HYBE's first AI
7 Tech Predictions for 2018
22 resources you'll need for raising an anti
Eliot’s Pen, Fabio’s Mane, and Other News by Sadie Stein
Trevor Noah to launch original Spotify podcast
Kanye Unbound
How to end a casual relationship
Can Liberals Give Peace a Chance?
Chinua Achebe, 1930–2013 by Sadie Stein
Tennessee Williams, Through the Eyes of W. Eugene Smith
SoulCycle's at
Queer Poserdom
Meta to roll back Covid
Letter from Boston by Michael McGrath
Wes Anderson's 'Asteroid City' has so much detail it needed an exhibition
Faux-Pas at MOMA
Alex Katz, Paris Review, 1991 by The Paris Review
Huawei's phone sales grew big time as Apple and Samsung's declined'Game of Thrones' breaks a major promise with that White Walker twistBrits are already fed up with Black Friday and it's not even Friday yetInfluencers can use Instagram's new shopping features to sell productsYouTube CEO promises to do more for creators amid scandalsIt really feels like you're in a Tesla with new Oculus Quest VR headsetLabor of Love app helps alleviate the mental load that plagues womenHow to watch Facebook's F8 2019 keynote liveDonald Trump's grandfather was banned from Germany for avoiding military serviceValve Index is the fanciest, and priciest, VR headset aroundTaylor Swift says fans figured out the name of her album. Here are their best theories.'Top End Wedding' brings the romNew artificial intelligence technique could erase fear from your brainWho is the next big villain after 'Avengers: Endgame'?Your future air conditioner might suck carbon dioxide out of the airNew artificial intelligence technique could erase fear from your brainSocial media shows different angle of dramatic events at Dakota Pipeline'Top End Wedding' brings the romArguments over the true colour of these stupid flip flops can now ceaseHow to watch Facebook's F8 2019 keynote live Barack Obama and Prince Harry want activists to get off their hashtags and into the real world OnePlus Nord 2 officially announced with a MediaTek processor Feast your eyes on the 1st photo of Elon Musk's Tesla bound for space How to delete books from Kindle Prince Harry expertly fields question on whether he's inviting Obama to his wedding 'Black Widow' combines box office and Disney+ for a wild $215 million opening How to go live on Instagram Watch Zaila Avant Billionaire Richard Branson heads to space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo George Michael's family shares touching message for everyone missing him on Christmas Trick your boss into thinking you're working with Slack scheduled messages Jennifer Lawrence got Kris Jenner the perfect Christmas present CNN used the phrase 'a dog's breakfast.' Here's what it means. Team internet reunites a man with an envelope full of money after he left it in the pub Steve Mnuchin got something much worse than coal for Christmas Samsung Galaxy S21 FE specs and pictures revealed in new leaks OnePlus Nord 2 to be fully revealed on July 22 Twitter bans 'Imposter Buster' that identified fake accounts of trolls How to play podcasts on your Amazon Alexa The best part about Chrissy Teigen's peculiar LAX flight is this insane conspiracy theory
1.728s , 10106.4921875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch Project Power Online】,Unobstructed Information Network