Otter females are called bitches or sows, and their offspring are called pups. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge, romp (being descriptive of their often playful nature) or, when in water, raft. The feces of otters are typically identified by their distinctive aroma, the smell of which has been described as ranging from freshly mown hay to putrefied fish; these are known as spraints. The gestation period in otters is about 60 to 86 days. The newborn pup is cared for by the bitch, dog and older offspring. Bitch otters reach sexual maturity at approximately two years of
Saint Bathans mammal adzebills are represented by unnamed species, as are various representatives of groups such as waterfowl, flamingos, rails, herons, strigopoidean parrots and even an early kiwi, "Proapteryx". However, unlike modern New Zealand it also had a varied herpetofauna: besides an early tuatara, the Saint Bathans fauna also includes meiolaniid and pleurodire turtles and possiblymekosuchine crocodiles and snakes. Besides the Saint Bathans mammal, this fauna also includes mystacine bats, a group still present in modern New Zealand. Like the modern species, these were probably terrestrial foragers, the same general ecological niche proposed for the Saint Bathans mammal. Other bats, including a vesper