Lutra

Lutra is a genus of otters, subfamily Lutrinae, family Mustelidae, order Carnivora, comprising five extant species arranged across four subgenera. The subgenus Aonyx includes the African clawless otter and Congo clawless otter; Amblonyx contains the Asian small-clawed otter; the nominate subgenus Lutra includes the Eurasian otter, the Japanese otter and the hairy-nosed otter; and Lutrogale contains the smooth-coated otter. Species in the genus are distributed across Africa, Asia and Eurasia, occupying aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats as carnivorous mustelids. A 2022 taxonomic study consolidated the formerly separate genera Aonyx, Amblonyx and Lutrogale into Lutra as subgenera, aligning the genus's classification more closely with morphological and evolutionary evidence, though some other classifications continue to treat Lutra more narrowly.