The Japanese River Otter inhabited the rivers on the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku in Japan; it was formerly thought to be a subspecies of the Eurasian River Otter (Lutra lutra (L.)).
The species was last seen in 1979 and is now considered extinct.
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edited: 01.08.2022
This species was described in 1960; it was apparently found in a cave named Kozono-no-ana, located in the Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan.
The type locality is said to have vanished in the 1960s for whatever reasons, thus the species is considered extinct, but it might in fact still exist. [1][2]
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References:
[1] Shun-Ichi Uéno: Occurence of Shikoku representatives of blind trechines (Coleoptera, Trechinae) originated in eastern Kyushu, southwest Japan. Elytra, Tokyo 36(1): 213-225. 2008
[2] Kazuki Sugaya; Ryo Ogawa; Yusuke Hara: Rediscovery of the “extinct” blind ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae). Entomological Science 20: 159-162. 2017
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edited: 24.04.2022