AnimalvsAnimal
Eurasian otter.2🦦

Photo: Erik Christensen · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCarnivoraMustelidae
Carnivores

🦦Eurasian otter

Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Der Fischotter (Lutra lutra) ist ein an das Wasserleben angepasster Marder, der zu den besten Schwimmern unter den Landraubtieren zählt. Er kommt in fast ganz Europa vor und wird einschließlich Schwanz etwa 130 Zentimeter lang. Eine eindeutigere Bezeichnung für diese Art ist Eurasischer Fischotter, da es in der Gruppe der Otter noch weitere Arten gibt, die Fischotter heißen, beispielsweise den Indischen oder die Amerikanischen Fischotter. Der gefährdete und streng geschützte Fischotter lebt bereits seit rund 5 Millionen Jahren auf der Erde. Der Wassermarder breitet sich seit den 1990er Jahren wieder in der Nordosthälfte Deutschlands aus. Dennoch gilt er in Deutschland noch als gefährdet (Rote Liste Säugetiere Deutschland 2019). Da er saubere Gewässer mit natürlich bewachsenen Uferzonen benötigt, findet er in der modernen Kulturlandschaft nur noch selten einen entsprechenden Lebensraum. Die Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung wählte den Fischotter zum Tier des Jahres 2021.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
669
Photos
2
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ 1/8th of your weight
Also called
common otter, European otter, European river otter, Old World otter
Conservation status
NTNear threatened

IUCN Red List assessment, 2022.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
7.81 kg
Body length
0.75 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
22 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Eurasian otter

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
7.81 kgrecord 10,000 kg · SeaLifeBase
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 6.75 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.75 m
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female11 mSeaLifeBasev25.04

Figures vary

  • 9.8 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass
45 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
22 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 18 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
7.59 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
1.9 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
63 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 61 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 2
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 2AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixed
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
21 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
0.85 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
7.8 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Eurasian otter yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyMustelidae
  6. ›genusLutra
  7. ›speciesLutra lutra
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. subfamilyLutrinae
  4. genusLutra
All 15 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyMustelidae
  14. subfamilyLutrinae
  15. genusLutra
More

More about the Eurasian otter

Closest relative on this site
🦡 Giant otter — last shared an ancestor ≈ 8.5 million years ago.
What it eats
insects and other invertebrates30%
reptiles, fish and amphibians30%
fish30%
warm-blooded animals10%
In other languages
oter (nb), Eurasischer Fischotter (de), Europese otter (nl), Lutra lutra (es), vydra říční (cs), saukko (fi) … and 28 more languages
More photos
Eurasian otter.2Eurasian otter.3
All 2 photos in the gallery →

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