Lowe’s Otter Civet Cynogale lowei does not exist

Abstract

Lowe’s Otter Civet Cynogale lowei is known from only one specimen, which was collected in the winter of 1926-27 in northern Vietnam. It has been considered to be a global priority for small carnivore conservation. Its taxonomic status – a species or a highly disjunct subspecies of Otter Civet C. bennettii – has been debated. This study assessed the taxonomic validity of Lowe’s Otter Civet through three principal methods: (i) a gross morphological comparison of tropical Asian otters, Otter Civet and ‘Specimen 1927.12.1.93’ (the Lowe’s Otter Civet holotype), (ii) microscopic hair analysis from museum specimens of tropical Asian otters, Otter Civet and Specimen 1927.12.1.93 and (iii) DNA analysis of genetic material extracted from Specimen 1927.12.1.93, which was then compared with sequences from tropical Asian otters and Otter Civet. All methods indicated that the specimen is a juvenile Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra. The IUCN SSC Small Carnivore Specialist Group, conservation donors and practitioners should all immediately disregard ’Lowe’s Otter Civet’ as a priority, to ensure that the limited resources for conservation are not wasted.