The prehistoric giant otter find was presented by a team of scientists in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology, reported NPR. The fossil was found in an open lignite mine in 2010 in what was formerly wooded wetlands of China's Yunnan Province.

According to The Washington Post, the prehistoric giant otter discovered by scientists in China was about two to three times bigger than a modern otter, Denise Su, head of paleobotany and paleoecology of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Judging from the remains, this gigantic prehistoric otter weighed about 110 pounds in those days.

The remains were named Siamogale melilutra for its similarity to an otter and badger. The fossil consists of an almost complete cranium. It was rather flattened already, about 1 ½ inches thick, so the scientists reconstructed the fossil using computers.

From the reconstructed fossil, Sci-News reported that it was ascertained that Siamogale melilutra had a very powerful jaw, with bunodont (rounded-cusped) cheek teeth. This enabled it to dine on what the scientists theorized were smaller animals like molluscs and shellfish.

The find from the Shuitangba area of China's Yunnan Province was extremely helpful to the scientists because it added more information to an animal that practically lived in the Miocene area about 6.24 million years ago. The find was reported to belong to one of the oldest lineages of the otter family. Previous information about this kind of otter was gleaned from fossilized teeth found in Thailand.

With further studies, these questions will have their answers eventually. This discovery was made by an international team of scientists from the United States of America, France, and China.

As a matter of fact, six million years ago, giant otters weighing more than 100 pounds lived among birds and water lilies in the wooded wetlands of China's Yunnan province.

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