greel Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I found this beaver molar in a creek some time ago. It measures one and a quarter inches in length. Is this too small to be from Castoroides Ohioensis? Did the giant beaver populate North Carolina or was the area restricted to the smaller beavers we have today? -greel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I don't think you can rely on tooth size to tell beaver apart. Beaver (and all rodents) front teeth grow throughout their lives. Modern beaver can also be wuite large, I caught a beaver that weighed 64 pounds once, and I know of others that have topped 70lbs, I've heard rumors of 100 pounders, but never seen convincing evidence. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Looks like skunk ape to me! Kidding aside, I found a similar tooth in Post Oak Creek in Sherman, TX and still wonder the same thing. I guess when I find a 10 inch incisor I'll know I have an old one. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I found this beaver molar in a creek some time ago. It measures one and a quarterinches in length. Is this too small to be from Castoroides Ohioensis? Did the giant beaver populate North Carolina or was the area restricted to the smaller beavers we have today? -greel Hi, Greel . . . Both Castor and Castoroides did indeed occur in NC. This tooth appears to me to be Castoroides. The cross-section dimensions of a tooth like this would be more useful than the length. (Were you were giving the front-to-rear length of the occlusal surface?) BTW While it may feel counterintuitive to spell the state name without capitalizing the "o" in "ohioensis", this is the rule for trivial names, even those trivial names which are based on proper nouns. Thus, we have Odocoileus virginianus, Alligator mississippiensis, Castor canadensis, etc. Here's Castor jaw for comparison. ---------Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greel Posted May 2, 2008 Author Share Posted May 2, 2008 Thanks for the replies fellas. I had no idea beavers got so big. Seventy pounds is one chunk of rodent - 100 pounds is as big as my Labrador retriever! My measurement was the length of the tooth. The contact surface is only one half inch wide. Thanks for the reminder on proper capitalization rules Harry. I need to slow down and pay closer attention in this area. -greel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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