Talk:Giant otter/Archive 1

Archive 1

Pictures

Could someone supply another picture of a Giant Otter? The current one is difficult to make out. At least to me, the retard.--Mihoshi 22:58, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree- in my opinion this really is a very poor picture, surely a clearer image can be substituted in it's place Kotare 09:23, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

I tottally agree this picture is of no use to me---a concerned veiwer

Consider it done.--a helpful friend

Size

• As regards the recent edit disputing the status of Pteronura brasiliensis as the worlds largest mustelid, I´m almost certain this original assertion is correct. If you look at the page for sea otters it says they only get up to 5 feet long and don´t weigh as much their marine relatives either. Whatever the case I´d be keen to hear what other people think.

Cheers, Kotare 21:16, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

Sea otters are heavier by a clear margin with a maximum of 45 kg (99 lb) compared to the 34 kg (75 lb) for the giant otter. These really aren't the best of sources, but I didn't have the patience to search for better ones right now: Giant Otter Sea Otter. Including tail giant otter is the longest though. --Anshelm '77 20:43, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

The conversion for the lengths it currently wrong. The meters measurement does not match up with the feet. I don't know which is correct as the citation is a book. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.227.156.250 (talk) 03:43, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Can sources be in other languages

Cause I know of at least one situation where a giant otter killed a man, but the source is in brasilian portuguese. --VTNC 14:54, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Pictures

I added a couple of pictures from Flickr because I know Marskell can't access Flickr. Feel free to remove/rearrange if you don't like them. Kla’quot (talk | contribs) 09:21, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

You beat me to it. I also noted the french page here for some interesting names. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:30, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Notes to self

• Campsite description, in social structure or habitat.
• Fill hunting: note Carter on consumption and hunting together.
• Fill Competition.
• Incorporate Clay's paper.
• Incorporate WWF (whiskers). Marskell (talk) 12:30, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
• Vocalizations (as it's such a noisy beast). Marskell (talk) 19:25, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
• Add http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Bulletin/Volume16/Schenck_et_al_1999.html, CITES, Feeding ecology paper. Marskell (talk) 09:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

http://itech.pjc.edu/sctag/proposals/Giant/Geovanna_Lasso/proposal.doc —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marskell (talk • contribs) 14:35, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Other possible To Do's

This is looking really strong and is interesting to read. Some more ideas below: Kla’quot (talk | contribs) 07:02, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

• How does the otter catch its prey, particularly the faster-moving species?
  • I think this better answered now.
• There is an apparent contradiction between "using mostly its eyesight to locate its prey" and choosing to live in "black waters".
  • Here Duplaix refers to "clear black water" and I think the title may be counter-intuitive: transparent rather than opaque water flow. Compare whitewater. Marskell (talk) 08:56, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
• Are conflicts with poisonous snakes an issue?
  • Aside from anacondas, I have seen zero mention. Marskell (talk) 20:45, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
• What are its competitors for food?
  • I think we have a decent section on that now. Although the page previously said the Jaguar competes for fish, I've found no mention of that. Marskell (talk) 11:34, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Article is looking awesome

-I've been watching this article for a while and it's amazing to see how far it's come. It's really great to see it develop because it's such a fascinating and little known creature. Good work Marskell! Kotare (talk) 04:30, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

a thick tail that narrows at a point All otters have claws some of them our big and some of the claws are small and other claws are bigger than the rest. When otter get wet there fur changes color. like from a brownish gray to a dark brown when wet. Claws to roughhouse and eat food —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.212.42.171 (talk) 03:28, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Caused a man's death at Brasília's Zoo

Brasília (Brazil's capital) Zoo is named after Brazilian Army Sgt. Sílvio Delmar Hollembach, that died in 1977 after saving a boy (Adílson Florêncio da Costa) that had fallen into giant otter's enclosure (I've heard he was able to help the boy out/up, but the group of otters attacked him and he couldn't get out). Here are some relevant links: 2001 follow-up by a magazine that covered the story in 1977, a 2002 report from a Brasilia newspaper (tell details as the date 28/Aug/1977, the boy was 13 years old, Hollembach was passung by in his car with wife and four kids, the Sgt. died two days after of 'generalized infection' -sepsis?- and more than a hundred bites from six giant otters were found), Law 1.009/1996 changing the name from "Jardim Zoológico de Brasília" to "Jardim Zoológico de Brasília Sargento Sílvio Delmar Hollenbach".

Now, to tell the truth, I'm not sure the story per-se merits mention in Giant Otter's article. But I live in Brasília and can tell that many people go to the poor otters so take a look at 'such evil beasts'. I've even tried to stop one guy that was throwing pebbles at them. They sure have a bad reputation here, mostly by being 'the sordid antagonists' of a full-blow hero (the city's only one, I'd say). It's sad, since a four hours car trip takes you to the Araguaia River, were you can see these amazing creatures. 201.15.77.249 (talk) 21:35, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Audio/video

I'll try to get some of this species. I'm sure I can find somebody on the InterWeb who'll release something. Richard001 (talk) 03:29, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

That would be groovy. Particulary for the vocalizations. Marskell (talk) 16:19, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

YouTube is a pretty good bet for finding video, and you can always extract audio from them if you want. You just have to ask the uploader if they are the copyright holder and get them to send an email to permission requests if they are willing to release it under a free license. I have done a few so far. Richard001 (talk) 01:01, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Citation needed

Is it okay for a featured article to have a "citation needed" tag, especially in the header? -- AvatarMN (talk) 05:43, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Capitalization

Is there a particular reason to capitalize "Giant Otter"? Certainly something like "dog" is not capitalized - what's the difference? If no one objects after a reasonable amount of time, I'll change this (or if someone else feels even more strongly, by all means go ahead). MicroProf (talk) 14:53, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Some mammal editors capitalize and some do not. The truce that's been established is: a) the page should be consistent, either way; and b) try to respect original or primary authors of an article. I prefer to capitalize and I think it especially helpful with a two part name. It makes sentences like the following understandable: "The otters form the Lutrinae subfamily within the mustelids and the Giant Otter is the only member of the genus Pteronura." For a rationale, see Wikipedia:BIRD#Bird_names_and_article_titles. Marskell (talk) 16:19, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your on-point response. I see the logic of this convention and will - nay, must - respect it, although I want to go on record as saying that I find it as awkward as the awkwardness it succeeds in resolving! Of course I recognize that my broad objection is not really a matter for discussion here and will now quietly leave you, dear readers, to the well-written article at hand. MicroProf (talk) 03:39, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Otters!

Just so we're clear on this, my otters are not in cahoots regarding this article's promotion to FA. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ^{(Broken clamshells • Otter chirps • HELP)} 18:19, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

No link to otter?

Congrats on the featured status! However, there's not a single link on the page that links to the general otter page, which I thought was a bit unusual... I was tempted to put in the first sentence "The Giant Otter" but I thought I'd just put in a suggestion. *edit* (Granted, Lutrinae, is linked twice) -- MacAddct1984 ^{(talk • contribs)} 18:56, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

I've linked "otter" in the sentence "It is the noisiest otter species and distinct vocalizations (...)". We usually don't link any part of the bolded text at the start of our articles, by the way. --Aqwis (talk – contributions) 22:36, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Infobox map

Just a quick comment: the article says that the Guianas are the last real stronghold for the giant otter, but this region doesn't seem to be colored red in the map in the infobox. Zagalejo^^^ 23:18, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Fair point. I'll try to edit the map for greater accuracy. Marskell (talk) 10:36, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Competes with silurid catfish?

All the information I have found (FishBase, for example) consistently indicates that Siluridae is a Eurasian family. Is there a misunderstanding? Thanks - Walrus heart (talk) 14:27, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

my upinion

the giant otter is the best —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.226.148.45 (talk) 20:36, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

omg

the giant otter is like the best animal in the world —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.226.148.45 (talk) 20:38, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Help

I am trying to translate the article, but couldn't resolve the relevant meaning of "reassurance" and "wing (paddle?) like tail". Thanks, Yaron. 17:16, 1 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by ירון (talk • contribs)

In Documentaries

I watched a BBC documentary on South America's best places. Relevant to the Giant Otter, BBC said that they are mostly found in the Amazon River and in the Pantanal. They also said that Giant Otters are badass. Exsiiron (talk) 20:05, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

English

I changed some BE to AE; the article seemed mixed, even within paragraphsGigemag76 (talk) 21:07, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

The sociability of mustelids in general

From one of the pictures: "Giant otters leave a pool together at the Philadelphia Zoo. The species is extremely social, a rarity amongst mustelids...".

I'm a bit puzzled by this - I know that ferrets and badgers are both highly social mustelids, and I think that regular otters are too, so saying that it's a rarity amongst mustelids seems wrong. Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong? Which mustelids are not social? groovygower (talk) 11:37, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

I just checked out the mustilidae page and it confirmed that most species are not social, however I'm still not sure that 'rarity' is an entirely accurate term given that a few species are social. groovygower (talk) 11:50, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Translation of Scientific Name

As per the 'Naming' section of the Article, 'pteronura' derives from the ancient greek words 'pteron' (=wing) and 'ura' (=tail), so the name means Brazilian wing-tail - not Brazilian whale otter. I note that BBC Nature also has this error (was it the source?).

I wonder if the error arose because: i) someone who knew that Balaenoptera (the Roqual whale genus) translates approximately as 'winged whale' [I don't know latin or greek so forgive my minor errors] and wrongly assumed that 'ptera' and hence 'ptero' referred to whales; and ii) assumed that 'nura' related to otters as it was similar to 'nutria', the spanish word for otter?Glevum (talk) 21:23, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Evolution of the tail?

Can we perhaps add some information about the giant otter's tail? None of the article pictures show the tail in detail, but a quick Google search will reveal that it clearly shows signs of having evolved for undulation, and the shape of it is fairly unique (n that it's wide and flat). Can someone look into adding some info on this? -- Myrddin_Wyllt 2/27/13 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.64.210.28 (talk) 00:59, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Which is correct?

• Mustelidae -- "the giant otter can measure up to 2.4 m (7.9 ft) in length "

• Giant otter -- "is the longest member of the Mustelidae...reaching up to 1.7m (5.6 ft)"

Moriori (talk) 06:31, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

on the main article about Otters it states that they can be up to 1.8m long. the information spread across the various articles must be synchronized. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.0.65.34 (talk) 19:02, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

New paper

It covers the Demography of the Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) in Manu National Park. Might be useful for facts and figures on lifespan and the like:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0106202

©Geni (talk) 16:56, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0112562

another paper covering what noised they make.©Geni (talk) 02:54, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

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