Enhydra macrodonta

{{Short description|Extinct species of otter}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Mid Pleistocene

| image =

| extinct = yes

| genus = Enhydra

| species = macrodonta

| authority = (Kilmer, 1972){{cite web |title=Enhydra macrodonta|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=46079|website=Fossilworks}}

}}

Enhydra macrodonta, the large-toothed sea otter, is an extinct mustelid known from the middle Pleistocene in California.{{cite book |last1=Berta |first1=Annalisa |title=The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution |date=2017 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9781421423265 |page=134}}

Description

The large-toothed sea otter is a close relative of the living sea otter. As its name implies, it is distinguishable from the modern sea otter by its larger, more robust teeth.{{cite journal |title=Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey |journal=Geological Survey (U.S.) |date=1976 |volume=4 |issue=3}}

Fossils of the large-toothed sea otter are dated to between 700 and 500 ka.{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Randall W. |title=Marine Mammals: Adaptations for an Aquatic Life |date=2019 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783319982809 |page=21}}

References