Aonyx capensis (Schinz 1821) [Lutra] capensis Schinz 1821, in: G. Cuvier, Das Thierreich, Vol. 1: 211. Type Locality: "Capischer otter. Afrika" [South Africa, (former) Cape Province]. Vernacular Names: African Clawless Otter. Subspecies:: Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. capensis Schinz 1821 Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. congica Lönnberg 1910 Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. hindei Thomas 1905 Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. meneleki Thomas 1903 Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. microdon Pohle 1920 Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. philippsi Hinton 1921 Distribution: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi (?), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Dem. Rep. Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Conservation: CITES – Appendix I (populations of Cameroon and Nigeria), otherwise Appendix II as A. congicus; U.S. ESA – Endangered as A. congicus microdon; IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as A. capensis, Data Deficient as A. congicus. Discussion: Reviewed by Larivière (2001 c, d). Synonyms allocated according to G. M. Allen (1939), and Ellerman et al. (1953). A. congica was considered a distinct species by Pohle (1920 a) and van Zyll de Jong (1987). Perret and Aellen (1956) and Davis (1978) included Paraonyx philippsi and Aonyx microdon.

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, pp. 532-628 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 601, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519