Castoroides
Encyclopedia
Castoroides, or Giant Beaver, is an extinct genus of enormous beaver
s that lived in North America
during the Pleistocene
. There are two known species:
Either species grew over 8 feet in length, easily dwarfing all other known beaver species, including the modern species.
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s that lived in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
. There are two known species:
- Castoroides leiseyorumCastoroides leiseyorumCastoroides leiseyorum is an extinct species of the genus Castoroides of the family Castoridae, endemic to North America, more specifically the southeastern United States ~2.1 million—11,000 years ago. See notes below....
(found in FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
only) - Castoroides ohioensis, synonym Castoroides nebrascensis (found throughout continental United States and Canada)
Either species grew over 8 feet in length, easily dwarfing all other known beaver species, including the modern species.