River Otter, Devon predominantly rural area, with small cattle, sheep and dairy farms. The largest town in the Otter Valley is Honiton. Tourism and leisure play important roles in the economy. For much of its length, the river flows through two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) – The Blackdown Hills AONB (to the north of Honiton) and East Devon AONB (to the south of Ottery St Mary). The river passes through or by Upottery, Rawridge, Monkton, Honiton, Alfington, Ottery St Mary, Tipton St John, Newton Poppleford and Otterton before reaching the Otter Estuary to the east of Budleigh Salterton. The Otter Estuary
North American river otter the genus "Lutra"; "Lutra" was the early European name. The species name was "Lutra canadensis". The species epithet "canadensis" means "of Canada". In a new classification, the species is called "Lontra canadensis", where the genus "Lontra" includes all the New World river otters. Molecular biological techniques have been used to determine when the river otter and the giant otter ("Pteronura brasiliensis") of South America diverged. These analyses suggest they diverged in the Miocene epoch 23.03 to 5.33 million years ago (Mya), which is "much earlier" than indicated in the fossil record. Fossils of a giant river otter dating back 3.5