African Openbill vs European otter

Anastomus lamelligerus compared with Lutra lutra

Key Differences

• African Openbill is Least Concern while European otter is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African Openbill	European otter
Kingdom same	Animalia (hewan)	Animalia (hewan)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Aves (burung)	Mammalia (mamalia)
Order	Ciconiiformes (Ciconiiformes)	Carnivora (Carnivorans)
Family	Ciconiidae	Mustelidae (Weasels & Otters)
Genus	Anastomus	Lutra (Otters)
Species	Anastomus lamelligerus	Lutra lutra

Evolutionary Relationship

African Openbill and European otter share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

African Openbill

LC — Least Concern

European otter

VU — Vulnerable

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African Openbill	European otter
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	10 years
Average Length	—	1.0 m
Average Weight	—	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

African Openbill

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Germany, and Norway.

European otter

Habitat

Typically found in diverse ecosystems where prey species are available.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

African Openbill

The African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus) is a species in the genus Anastomus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

European otter

Sleek semi-aquatic mustelid found along clean rivers, streams, and coastlines across Europe and Asia. European otters can reach 1.3 meters in length and are highly skilled fish hunters, using sensitive whiskers to detect prey movements. Requiring unpolluted water with abundant fish, they are an indicator species for freshwater ecosystem health. Once nearly extinct in Western Europe from hunting and pollution, populations have recovered significantly following water quality improvements.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇳🇴 Norway