And in all this time, they've always been doing the same things. No improvement is ever needed.

>>1807 (OP)

Another comparison:
If otters had existed for a day, we would have existed for less than two minutes.

>>1808

30 million years.
3 million generations.
All this time to eat delicious snacks, roll around in the grass, slide in the snow, play with rocks, and swim in pristine waters.

>>1957

They've perfected their craft

>>1807 (OP)

>early otterish mammals

What were the earliest otterish mammals?

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>>1976

That'd be guys like this

>>1980

New look, same taste

>>1980

It's not the same as an otter. But it definitely rhymes.

>>1980

Small and pointy!

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>>2146

Like an otter shrew (Yes that's a real animal)

>>2148

These are some wacky looking otters

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Speaking of older otters, I recently learned that there were once lion-sized otters! Giant otters are certainly big boys, but these otts must have really been something else!
https://www.livescience.com/lion-sized-otter-unearthed-ethiopia

>>3558

Were there also giant fish back then? It seems everything was big back then...

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>>3559

I suppose that there must have been. I'm far from an expert, but if predators can get that big, it must mean that there was some hefty prey out there to be eaten.

>>3559

Apparently they mostly ate land based prey, very strange otters to not be in the water but also equally interesting to learn about. What a different world we would live in if terrestrial otters were the norm.

>>3564

>What a different world we would live in if terrestrial otters were the norm.

Definitely, but I suppose that, for the creatures living back then, that was normal. So maybe they'd see our watery otters and think we're the strange ones!