The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 2020 Regional Differences in Wild North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) Behavior and Communication Sarah Walkley Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Biological Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Comparative Psychology Commons, Integrative Biology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Walkley, Sarah, "Regional Differences in Wild North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) Behavior and Communication" (2020). Dissertations. 1752. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1752 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN WILD NORTH AMERICAN RIVER OTTER (LONTRA CANADENSIS) BEHAVIOR AND COMMUNICATION by Sarah N. Walkley A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Education and Human Sciences and the School of Psychology at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by: Dr. Hans Stadthagen, Committee Chair Dr. Heidi Lyn Dr. Richard Mohn Dr. Carla Almonte ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Hans Stadthagen Dr. Sara Jordan Dr. Karen S. Coats Committee Chair Director of School Dean of the Graduate School May 2020 COPYRIGHT BY Sarah N. Walkley 2020 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT This study focuses on the vocalization repertoires of wild North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) in New York and California. Although they are the same species, these two established populations of river otters are separated by a significant distance and are distinct from one another.