Castoroides

Castoroides(Giant Beaver)
Classification
Name	Castoroides ohioensis
Name Meaning	"Beaver like" or "Of the beaver family"
Species	Prehistoric Beaver
Family	Castoridae
Diet	Herbivore
Physiology
Description	A giant species of beaver
Attributes	Large size; huge teeth; big tail; attributes similar to modern beavers
Height	1 m (3.3 ft)
Length	2.5 m (7.5 ft)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Biography
Era	Early to Late Pleistocene
Time	1 MYA to 10 TYA
Discovered	1837
Locations	North America

Castoroides (name meaning "Beaver like" or "Of the beaver family") also known as the Giant Beaver, is a genus of enormous beaver that originated during the Pleistocene epoch in what is now North America. Roughly the size of a black bear, this is the largest species of beaver that ever existed.

In the Series 3 finale "Mammoth's Undertaking Journey II: The Eternal Frontier", a pair of Castoroides and their young were brought to the park from Late Pleistocene North America, 11,000 years ago. They reside in Beaver Hotel Enclosure.

Facts

Era & Discovery

Castoroides lived in North America during the Early to Late Pleistocene 1 million to 10,000 years ago where it lived alongside other animals such as Smilodon, Arctodus, Arctotherium, Dire Wolf, the American Mastodon, Megalonyx, Glyptotherium, the American Lion, and even the mighty Woolly and Columbian Mammoths. It was among the largest rodents to walk the Earth and went extinct at the end of the Ice Age.

The first fossils of Castoroides were discovered in 1837 at a peat bog in Ohio by American geologist and archaeologist John Wells Foster.

Physical Attributes

Castoroides stood 1 meter tall and weighed 90 kilograms, making them one of the largest rodents to ever walk the Earth.

Castoroides were similar in appearance to a modern day beaver, however they were three times bigger nearing the size of a modern day Black Bear. They often lived near the edges of rivers so they would escape the predators that they shared their world with. Castoroides had a different pair of front teeth which were made to exploit marshy vegatation that were found in wetlands rather them using them to cut down trees and build dams like modern beavers.

Behavior & Traits

Castoroides skeleton

Castoroides were most likely social animals like their modern day beaver relatives. However their behavior was different than their modern relatives. Unlike modern beavers, Castoroides did not cut down trees or built dams.

Gallery

A Castoroides swimming through the water.

A Castoroides eating plants near a lake.

Trivia

• Castoroides is the largest rodent brought to the park.